Curiosity Killed The Cat
by TeamBlaus4EVER
Summary: The Martin girls thought the hardest thing that they'd have to survive was going to be French class and boys, but when they stumble upon an old mystery can they figure it out before it's too late?
1. New Girls

My new obsession! I love Jerome and Fabian's characters lol! And I just wanna hug Amber lol. I don't own anything in this besides my oc Mina Martin.

Summary - Nina wasn't alone when she left to England. Her cousin, who she conciders a little sister, comes along for the journey to the House Of Anubis. The girls think the hardest thing they'll have to get through is making friends with their house mates and passing French, but when Nina goes up to the attic and discovers that there's a mystery that needs to be solved? Their lives just got a lot harder. Will they solve the mystery of the Anubis house, or will they die trying?

Chapter 1

Two girls watched as the train that they had just gotten off of left. There was no going back now, not that there was any going back after they boarded the plane to England. The two brunettes looked at each other with an excited look. As much as they were going to miss America, they were beyond excited to be here in England.

"This is it, Nina. We're really here." The smaller brunette said, the excitement practically bouncing in her hazel eyes. Nina laughed at her cousin, well sister, next to her, but shared her excitement if not more. The two were cousins, but grew up together since they were infants, so they were practically considered sisters. They looked a like as well, so it wasn't that far fetched of an idea.

"I know, Min. I'm so excited already." Nina said to her sister as they left to go wait for their cab in the parking lot. It wasn't a long wait for them out front, they passed the time by making sure that they both had everything that they needed. The smaller brunette sighed when she saw the huge American flag on her sister's bad. She didn't say anything, but settled for rolling her eyes at her sister.

Before they knew it a cab was driving up to them. "Nina, look." Her sister nudged her to look at the cab. Their excitement sky rocketed when the cab stopped in front of them. This was it. Once they got to the school, it would be real. They were really in England, going to an England boarding school, where no one would know them. It was a fresh start.

The cab driver stuck his head out of the car door, which the girls noticed was on the opposite side of where it would be if they were still in America, that was going to take a while to get use to. "Nina and Mina Martin?" He asked out to them. The girls shared a look before nodding, squeaking out a 'yes' on Nina's part. Some might find it weird that their parents would name them pretty much the same name, but they thought it was funny. Since they looked a like and were in the same grade, it was like they were twins. Some people actually thought that they were.

"That's us." Nina said to him with an excited little wave. Mina giggled at her sister's excitement.

"Oh, you two are American then?" The cab driver said to them as he got out of the car to help them with their bags. Nina looked at Mina confused, wondering how he knew that. Was it her accent? Mina giggled and shook her head. Her guess was that it was the big American flag on Nina's bag that gave them away.

"Yeah, how'd you know? Was it the accent?" Nina asked him.

"No. It was the big American flag on the suit case." He pointed out to her, causing Mina to giggle. Nina shot her a worried look as she gave the man a nervous laugh. Why hadn't Mina told her that it looked strange? It was obvious that she thought so before the man pointed it out.

"Oh, right, well." Nina said to him as she ripped the sticker off of her bag before he put them in the trunk of the car. "It's a little obvious. Not the best way to blend in, is it Mina?" She said to her sister nervously with a laugh. Mina just shook her head, smiling at the two the whole time. She knew that Nina wished that she had told her how stupid the flag looked.

"Alright then, jump in luvs." He said to the girls as he opened the car door for them before going to put their bags into the back. The girls shared a look before hopping into the back seat of the cab.

"Thanks a lot, Min. That was totally embaressing." Nina whispered to her sister as she buckled herself into the car. Mina just shook her head at her sister and giggled as she too buckled herself into the car.

"I thought that it was funny, Nina. Just laugh and relax. Take a breath, you don't want to scare anyone off with your excitement." Mina giggled to her sister. Nina shot her a look, but didn't get to say anything sine the cab driver chose then to come back into the cab. The girls giggled as they took off toward their new school.

"I can't believe that we're actually going to boarding school. I'm so excited. I feel like Harry Potter." Nina said to her, trying to get most of her over excitement out now before they actually got to the school. Mina just nodded and giggled to Nina, but her focus was on her phone in her hands. The cab driver noticed that Mina playing with her phone.

"Is that your parents checking up on ya?" He asked the younger girl. Mina looked up from her phone and smiled as she nodded. She showed Nina the text message, causing the other girl to smile as well.

"It's our Gran. She misses us already." Nina told the man as she watched Mina type away her part of the reply. Once she was done, she passed the phone over to Nina to type up her part of it.

"Our Gran brought us up. We . . . we've never been away from home before." Mina told the man, leaving out the part of why their Gran brought them up instead of either of their parents. Nina pressed the send button on Mina's phone and waited until it said that it had sent to give it back to her. The man noticed the sadness in the girl's voices.

"Oh, you two getting cold feet? Want me to turn this cab around?" He asked them, a hint of a smile on his face upon seeing them both brighten up instantly.

"No way. We're finally here. We're off to our new school. I'm siked, aren't you Min?" Nina said out to the other two in the car, looking at her sister to see if she felt the same. Mina smiled and nodded to Nina in agreement.

"Naturally." Mina smiled to her sister.

"Natually." The cab driver agreed with them, smiling when he saw the two girls giggling away in the back seat.

"And, I guess I am a little scared. The last time I felt like this? I threw up on our kindergarden teacher." Nina confessed, a worred expression appearing on her face. Mina just took a hold of her sister's hand and gave her a comforting squeeze. "Thanks, Min." She mouthed to her sister.

"Well, that might just be my driving." The cab driver told them as they drove along. The girls giggled and shared a look. If people at the school were as nice as this guy, they'd be having a lot of fun. The cab driver turned, looking out of the window to make sure that he got to the right place. "Okay, girls, we're here." He told them. They looked out of their windows and gasped at the sight before them.

"Wow." Nina gasped as she saw the school up ahead.

"It's a big place. Where do you two need to be? The same place I assume?" The cab driver slowed down, giving the girls a minute to look at their papers. Nina checked them both and saw that they were in the same house.

"Uh, it says here . . . that we're in the house of Anubis." Nina told him. He nodded and drove a bit faster again. The girls shared a look. This was it. They both stared at their surroundings as they drove to their boarding house. Nina saw two girls and a boy looking confused at the cab car as they got to the house. The cab soon came to a stop infront of what they guessed was the school. The girls got out once the cab came to a stop and took in the building.

"Wow." Nina said to herself as she saw how beautiful it all was. She looked at her sister, not surprised to see her looking at the land rather than the school. Mina had taken a liking to nature, unlike her sister who prefered to shop. "Welcome to Hogwarts." Nina said more to herself than to her sister. Mina looked at her and shook her head. Nina had an obsession with Harry Potter. Nina noticed first that the cab driver had already taken off toward the Anubis building. "Hey! Wait up!" Nina shouted out as she grabbed her sister's hand and pulled her along as they ran to catch up.

"Nina, look out!" Mina yelled out, but it was too late. Nina had ran into another girl. She is so not having a good day. Mina winced as she heard the impact of the two girls. She gave the other two a nervous wave as she dragged her stuttering sister along. The three stared after them confused.

"Who's the Americans?" The girl that Nina had run into asked her friends. The boy shrugged as the girls just watched the two's retreating forms. How odd was that? The three continued on, the shorter girl looking back the whole time. Something strange was going to happen, she could feel it in her gut.

The girls ran around the corner, Nina trying to dig out some money for the cab driver as they jogged to a stop at the front door. "Thank you." Nina smiled as she handed him the money. He said good bye as he left the girls behind. They smiled and waved before turning toward the house.

They gasped in awe. It was amazing. They shared a look before picking up their bags and heading up the stairs. They stopped at the porch and looked at the house. It looked so old but well taken care of. Nina went to open the door, but found that it was already open. "Hello?" They asked out, but found that no one was there to answer back. They shared a nervous look before heading inside.


	2. Irrisistable? I Think Not

I do not own anything in this besides Mina!

Chapter 2

The girls wondered into the house, looking around at their surroundings in amazement. Everything had that old fashion look to it. They both spun around when the door behind them slammed shut. They tuned back around and jumped, squeaking on Mina's part, to see an middle aged man standing right there in front of them. The girls shared a nervous look, creepy much?

"Isn't the bell working?" He asked them. Mina took a step behind Nina, silently telling her that she could do the talking with this guy. The guy was giving her the major creeps. She could feel the hairs on the back of her neck standing up, along with the hairs on her arms. The girls gave him a nervous smile. "Hmm?" He wanted an answer. Mina nudged Nina to start talking.

"No. I mean, um, the door was open. So we just . . ."

"So you two just waltzed right in." He cut Nina off. The girls shared a look before giving him another nervous smile, hoping that they weren't already in trouble because of the fact that they didn't knock on the door before coming inside.

"That's kind of how we deal with doors in America." Nina said to him, but Mina looked at her confused.

"No it isn't. Maybe just you, but . . ."

"Mina, not the time." Nina whispered back to her sister, keeping her smile big in front of the man. Mina rolled her eyes at her sister, but didn't argue with her. "Uh, hi. I'm Nina Martin, and this is my sister Mina." Nina said to him as she held out her hand to the man. Her smile faltered when he just looked down at his watch.

"You both are late. Two weeks late." He said to them as he pocketed his watch and circled around them both. Mina keep her mouth shut and her eyes on the floor, completely terrified of this man now.

"I know. I'm sorry, but we didn't find out about the scholarships until . . ."

"I'm not interested in your reason on why you both are late." The man stopped next to them. Nina looked up at him, not showing much fear, but Mina kept her head down, her eyes locked on the floor.

"Victor." The girls looked up to see a woman coming down the stairs. "I hope you are giving our new girls the warmest of welcomes. Well, as warm as he gets anyways." She welcomed the girls with a warm smile. Mina instantly relaxed upon seeing this woman. At least their was one not so scary adult running this house. "Hello, sweeties. I'm Trudy, your house mother." Trudy introduced herself to the two girls. "Welcome to Anubis house." She said to them as she motioned to the house. "It's always slightly spookier than the brochure." She whispered to the girls, causing them to giggle.

"The Anubis estate was originally built in 1890, although it wasn't actually named Anubis until 1922." Victor explained to them. The girls noticed that Victor took pride in knowing all of that history stuff about the house. The girls shared a smile with Trudy, who actually laughed out loud.

"Oh, they don't care about all that boringness, Victor. They are teenagers, it's all about hormones, and vampires." Trudy laughed to the girls. Nina laughed with her, but Mina saw the look on Victor's face. As scary as he looked, Mina felt bad for Trudy taking away his moment of what he apparently loved to tell. "Now. Here is the living room through here, sweeties." Trudy said to them as she motioned the girls into the next room.

"Everything's so old and beautiful." Nina said to Trudy as she looked at the room in amazement. Mina giggled and shook her head. Nina loved the old fashion stuff, while she one the other hand, liked the nature stuff. "This place must have like, a ton of stories." Nina said out to the older woman as she walked around with Trudy as she tidied up a bit.

"Now this is where I serve breakfast and evening meals. Delicious." Trudy said with a giggle to them as she pointed to the dinner table and kitchen. As she tidied up more, the girls looked around the room. Nina caught sight of a painting and nudged Mina to look at it. They girls walked right up to it, curious to know the story behind the painting.

"Mr and Ms. Frosten-Smithe, the original inhibitors." Victor told them as he popped in from the other room. "Who later died, in a tragic death." Victor told them. The girls gave him a curious look. Trudy let out a nervous laugh as she hurried over to the girls, not believing that Victor had told them that.

"Always upbeat, right? Shall I show you two where you'll be sleeping?" Trudy asked the girls. Victor looked at Trudy with a serious look.

"Is it ready?" He asked her.

"Oh, yes. I've cleared it." She told him with a nod.

"Then very well. Follow me please girls." Victor said to them as he cut through the girls and led the way out of the room toward the main stairs. The girls shared a look before going to follow after him. Nina stopped when a picture on the wall caught her eyes.

"Oh, who are these?" Nina asked out to Trudy as she motioned to the picture on the wall. It was of a bunch of kids in front of the Anubis house.

"Oh, well this one on the far left, well that's . . ."

"When . . . you are quite ready." Victor said to them as he took the picture off of the wall, giving Trudy a sharp look as he headed upstairs. Mina stared after him, zoning out on what Trudy had said to Nina. She felt a nudge and saw that Nina was telling her to go. She nodded and followed after Victor with Nina and Trudy be her side. "Boy's rooms down stairs. We don't want anyone wondering around after nine O'clock, and all lights must be out by ten. This is my room, which needless to say is strictly out of bounds." Victor said to them as he went and put the picture in his room. The girls shared another nervous look.

They headed through a door down the next hallway. Mina noticed a door that she guessed was a door to the attic of this place. "What's up there?" She asked them. Nina looked to where she was pointing and looked at Trudy and Victor for an answer. She was curious to know as well.

"That's the attic." Trudy told them.

"Going up into the attic, or down into the cellar is strictly forbidden. Is that understood?" Victor asked them, looking the girls right in the eye. They saw that he was extremely serious on the matter. Mina nodded slowly, wondering why the attic and cellar were forbidden.

"Crystal." Nina nodded, but was wondering the same thing as her sister. Victor nodded after a moment before motioning to the room next to them.

"This is your room in here, Nina." Victor said to her as he walked into the room. The girls went to follow him, but Trudy pulled Mina to a stop. She gave the older woman a curious look, wondering why she was stopping her.

"Sorry to say this sweetie, but you'll be sleeping in a different room as Nina. Even sorrier to say, Miss Mina, that you'll be down stairs with the boys since all of the upstairs bed rooms are full." Trudy explained to Mina. She saw the look on Mina's face and smiled. "You'll have your own room and you're free to use the girl's bathroom up here though, so don't worry about any of them peaking went they shouldn't." Trudy told her. Mina nodded and waved to Nina before she followed Trudy down to where her room was.

Mina was just finishing up her room, or at least putting her clothes away in the closet, when her stomach growled. She sure hoped that dinner was soon. Maybe she should go find Trudy and ask her? She was nervous to meet everyone, and she was worried about Nina. She was the one with the room mate, what if they didn't get along? What if the girl was mean to Nina? Nina was stronger than she looked though, she could handle a mean room mate, couldn't she?

Mina's rumbling stomach was getting to her and she decided that it was time to see when dinner was. She left her room and walked toward the kitchen to look for Trudy. She had just walked around the corner when she walked right into someone. She squeaked out as she fell back. She braced herself for impact, but found that she didn't need to. Two strong arms had caught her.

"Well, hello there, luv." A deep English voice said to her. She opened her eyes to meet probably the cutest boy that she ever seen before. He had dirty blond hair that was styled in a crazy way. "I told Alfie that I was irresistible." He chuckled as he set her up right. Her eyes widened and she felt a blush hit her cheeks as she realized that she had been staring at him. She scoffed and rolled her eyes at him. She should have known that the second she saw him that he was _that_ kind of boy.

"Looks like who ever this Alfie person is, they're right." She said to him as she crossed her arms. She saw him smirk, thinking that she was under his charm. "You aren't irresistible." She said to him, a grin appearing on her lips as she saw his smirk drop. "Maybe in my next life, buddy." She laughed as she patted his chest and walked past him toward the kitchen.

The boy stared after her with a grin, now there was a challenge that he would gladly accept. He followed after her, wondering if this was the new girl that Patricia had been going on about a second ago. He had left the room before she went on crazy mode, but now he would gladly hear what Patricia had to say if this girl was going to be apart of it.

Mina could hear his foot steps behind her, but went on as if she didn't. She could hear chatter from the living room, her guess was that the other kids were all back as well. She noticed Nina coming down from the upstairs. "Nina!" She picked up her pace as she went over to Nina. Nina gave her a small wave and smile, but Mina could see that something was bothering her.

"Hey, Min. How's your room?" Nina asked her, trying to keep the fake smile up. Mina shrugged, she missed her old room back home. She was about to ask Nina what was wrong when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She rolled her eyes as she looked up at the boy that she had bumped into.

"Well, look here. There are two new girls, and here I was surprised to hear that we had just one." The boy said to them as he grinned up at Nina. Mina rolled her eyes at him. Nina looked curiously at Mina as she got to the bottom of the stairs. "I'll see you both in the other room then." The boy said to them before leaving into the other room to see the others.

"What's wrong, Nina?" Mina asked her sister when she knew the boy was gone. Nina didn't want to get into it though. It wasn't a big deal, and she didn't want to bother Mina with it. She just shrugged and headed into the living room with Mina. The room went silent the second that they walked into the room, all eyes were on them now. It was silent for a minute, and it was beyond awkward for the girls.

"Hi, I'm Nina, and this is Mina."

"But everyone back home calls me Minnie." Mina cut in.

"We're from America." Nina continued on as she broke the silence in the room. Mina winced when she saw the girl on the other side of the room roll her eyes. How many times had Nina actually said that she's from America already?

"Hey." The boy in the chair next to Nina gave her a shy wave. Mina bit her lip when she saw Nina smile and wave back.

"Minnie? Like the mouse?" The boy from the hall asked Mina, causing her to blush a deep red. "Doesn't suit you." He said to her with a straight face. She just rolled her eyes at him, hoping that no one saw her blushing. The dark skinned boy got up from his seat on the couch next to Mina and stood in front of them now.

"Welcome, space girls. Or, blur bleep blop, as they say in your language." The boy said to them. Nina and Mina gave each other a confused look. Mina saw that this boy was sitting next to the boy from before in the hall. Her guess was that this must be Alfie.

"You must be Alfie." Mina laughed, looking passed Alfie to the blond boy on the couch. "I was right then, Alfie was totally right. If anything, I'd pick Alfie over you. Humor can get you a long way." Mina laughed out, causing the others in the room to chuckle as well. Patricia even managed a small grin. Alfie seemed to glow in amusement though.

"I guess you've already met Jerome then?" The brunette girl on the couch against the window laughed. Nina watched in envy as Mina had already won over the room, even Patricia wanted to laugh. "I'm Mara by the way." She introduced herself to the girls. Mina smiled and gave her a small wave.

"Supper's ready." Trudy announced from the dining room as she set down the last two plates. The others got up and walked into the dining room. Nina watched as Mina was instantly welcomed into a seat next to Alfie. She stayed put as she let the others walk past her, frowning when she saw the glare that Patricia was giving her. She looked around and noticed that the last seat open was next to Patricia and slowly took it. The blond girl came up to her, clearly not happy with Nina.

"That's my seat." She said to Nina. She jumped to her feet, not wanting to get on another person's bad side.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Do you want to . . ."

"Where's Mick?" She cut her off, confusing the heck out of Nina. Who was Mick? Mina felt bad that Nina was trying so hard, and wasn't succeeding in making any friends yet.

"Um, I don't even know who you are, so . . ." Nina trailed off when the girl just gave her the pepper shaker and left the room. She slowly sat back down in her seat.

"You heard what Amber said, that's her seat." Patricia said to Nina, making it clear that Nina wasn't wanted. Mina was about to say something, but stopped when she knew that Nina had to take care of herself on this one. If things got out of hand, then she would step in, but if she stepped in too soon? Not only would she get an enemy, but she would also ruin Nina's chances of making any friends here.

"Yeah, but she's not here right now." Nina said to Patricia, not knowing what the big deal about her sitting in Amber's seat if Amber's not even in the room.

"That's your way, isn't it? Someone's gone for five seconds, and you've already moved in." Patricia was making her point clear that she didn't like the fact that her friend was gone and Nina was now her room mate.

"Hey, I'm new here too. Does that mean that on your bad list too? If that Amber girl wants a seat, she can have mine." Mina said out to Patricia, who's glare turned on her now. Nina shot her a look, telling her that she could handle this.

"Patricia . . ." The boy across from Nina spoke out, trying to stop the fight that everyone knew was soon coming. " . . . is ahead of the welcoming committee." The boy said to them, causing a few chuckled to be heard. "Take no notice, just sit where ever you would like." He said to Nina with a small smile. Mina smiled when she saw Nina smile back at the boy. 'Thanks' Mina mouthed to boy when he caught her looking at him. He simply nodded and began to eat his food. The table got quiet after that and they ate in peace.

Mina giggled when she saw Alfie stuffing the spaghetti into his mouth with both of his forks. "Stop it, Alfie. That's disgusting, and you're probably going to choke on it." Mara told him, completely disgusted with the boy. She was completely right, but Mina couldn't help but laugh.

"But it's delicious this way." He said to her with his mouth full. Jerome saw that Mina was trying to hide her giggling and tried his best to keep smiling. How was Alfie making her laugh so much? Sure Alfie was funny, but Jerome was funnier, wasn't he?

"Alfie, don't play with your food." Jerome scolded him as he went to take a bite of his food, but at the last second flung it at Alfie. Mina yelped as some of it hit her as well. Nina looked at them with a fake smile, not believing that Jerome had done that during dinner. Alfie and Mina shared a look. "Alfie . . ." Jerome was cut off by them picking up their food and throwing it at Jerome, and unfortunately Mara as well. She gasped out as she was hit with food.

Jerome grabbed the salad and tossed it at Alfie. Jerome and Alfie shared a look as Alfie picked up his sauce and flung it right at Nina. She screamed as it hit her. Mina's jaw dropped. Mina grabbed her noddles and threw them right in Jerome's face. "Oh, that's it!" He said out as he got up and went to throw something at her, but she ducked at the last second and it hit an unsuspecting Amber as she walked back into the room, but ended up just leaving again. "In your face!" Alfie shouted out as he hit Fabian in the face.

"Really guys? Every meal?" He said to them as he wiped the meat off of his face. Nina pulled her hair out of her face and tied it back into a pony tail, disgusted by the meat that was on her.

"Oops, sorry." Patricia laughed as she dumped the pitcher of water on Nina's lap. Nina screamed out, jumping up from her seat as quickly as she could. Mina picked up the last of her food and flung it right at Patricia, hitting her right in the face.

"Classie, Patricia." Fabian said to her, not liking that she was being so mean to the new girl, when she hadn't done anything but be nice to her. So Joy was gone, yeah it was strange that she was suddenly gone the day that Nina and Mina showed up, but that's as far as it went. They weren't out to get her. Patricia wiped the food from her face, not really caring at the moment. She was satified to see Nina upset.

"What? It was an accident."

"Are you okay?" Fabian asked Nina.

"Yeah, except I think my sweaters shrinking to my body as we speak." Nina said to him as she tried to dry herself off. Mina watched as Fabian got up with some napkins and tried to help her dry off.

"So, Nina, when are you going to tell us about Joy's disappearance?" Patricia asked her, clearly thinking that Nina had something to do with her friend's sudden leave. Mina couldn't believe her! Why was she blaming Nina? What if roles had been switched and Mina had gotten the room instead of Nina? Would she think that she was behind the disappearance?

"I guess when I actually know something." Nina said to her, tried of being blamed for something that she didn't do. Mina could tell that Nina was upset, but stayed put until Nina asked for her help. It looked like Fabian had the water problem handled.

"Oh, come on. One minute I'm sitting next to Joy in class, and the next she's disappeared and you've taken her place. Bit of a coincidence, don't you think?" Patricia was in Nina's face now. Mina wanted to say something, but Nina shot her a look to not do anything.

"I guess it is." Nina looked like she was about to break, and it killed Mina not to step in. Jerome saw the look on Mina's face and frowned, he would have said something to ease the tension, but Alfie beat him to it.

"Maybe she snatched her and locked her in the cellar. Whoo!" Alfie laugh out. Mina narrowed her eyes at him and smacked his arm. "Ouch, I was just trying to make a funny." Alfie gave her a weak smile. Mina rolled her eyes at him and smiled back. Jerome couldn't believe it. Alfie just made a crack about Nina and she smiles? If it was him who said that she would have just threw more food at him.

"Shut up, Alfie." Patricia said to him before turning back to Nina. "Well?" She asked her, expecting for Nina to have a confession.

"Like I told you, I don't know anything about Joy or her disappearance." Nina was seriously hurt that not even one day at this new school and everyone hated her, yet they all loved Mina. That didn't make any sense to her at all.

"I'll get it out of you, eventually." Patricia narrowed her eyes at Nina.

"Nina and Mina, phone call for you both." Victor said as he came into the room. He looked around and saw the mess that had become the dining room. "What's going on?" He asked them all, looking over every slop covered child in the room.

"Nothing. Just Nina spilled water everywhere." Patricia said innocently to Victor, giving Nina a look as she sat back down. Mina had come around the table and nudged Nina to just leave the room. Nina wiped her chest one last time before tossing the napkins and leaving the room with Mina. Jerome saw that Alfie was staring at Mina and tossed another noddle at him, which Alfie so kindly tossed one back at him.

The girls followed Victor to the phone. He pointed to the phone as he continued on his way back to his room upstairs. Mina knew that Nina couldn't talk on the phone so she got to it first and picked it up. "How's Harry Potter land?" The Gran asked them. Mina managed a smile as she looked up at Nina, whom was trying her hardest not to cry.

"Hey, Gran." Mina said in the phone. She smiled as she took her sister's hand and gave her a comforting squeeze.

"Well, go on. Tell me all. What's it like? Is Nina there with you right now?"

"Yeah, she's here. It's great. It's . . . it's just how we thought it would be." Mina said to their Gran. Nina mumbled out a 'hi' as she wiped her traitor tears. She knew that, as much as she hated crying, that she could break down in front of Mina and she wouldn't think any less of her.

"Made some new friends yet?"

"Yeah, so many, like so many." She wasn't exactly lying. She had made friends with the other people in the house. Nina on the other hand, hadn't quite made any yet. Well, unless you count possibly Fabian. But she had a feeling that once things cooled off about the Joy thing that things would get better for Nina.

"I knew you both would. Is Nina okay? Usually she's the one on the phone, not that I don't love talking to you, but you sound weird right now. Are you sure that everything's alright, Minnie?" Mina didn't know what to do, their Gran was right. Mina never really talked on the phone, it was usually Nina that did all the phone talking. Nina took a deep breath and wiped her tears as she took the phone from Mina.

"Hey Gran, it's Nina. I'm fine, you know, Gran, um, we're in the middle of supper, which means dinner, so um . . ." Nina trailed off, not knowing how much longer she could talk on the phone.

"Yes. Yes, you both go. Don't let me stop you."

"We'll call you soon. Okay?" Nina tried her best not to break down, but she found that it was harder said than done. Everyone already hated her and she hadn't even spent more than a few minute with them. Mina felt horrible, she didn't know what to do or say. What could she though?

"Only if you two have got time. Get some sleep, honey. Both of you. Bye." Nina heard the phone hang up and knew that their Gran had hung up. She took a deep breath as she hung up the phone. She let her head dropped into her hands as she let the tears fall. Mina rubbed her back, trying to be as comforting as she could. Unkowing to what was going on, Fabian came out of the room with a glass of water for Nina. He stopped when he saw that Nina was crying though.

"Is everything okay?" He asked the two girls. They jumped, not knowing that he was there. Nina wiped her tears quickly, not knowing what to say to him.

"Oh, uh, she's fine. It's just her allergies acting up. You have cats, right?" Mina quickly covered for her sister. Fabian couldn't believe how badly everyone was acting to Nina. It wasn't fair to her, or Mina who had to sit there and listen to Patricia. He sadly shook his head no to them.

"No." Mina and Nina shared a sad look. Nina blamed it on the sweater and left for her room. Mina saw the look on Fabian's face as he left to go back to the dining room and smile softly as she went after Nina.


	3. A Good Day To You

Thanks for the review! I do not own anything, including sadly Jerome, in this story, besides Mina!

Chapter 3

Here's hopes that today will be better, Mina thought to herself as she pulled on her dress. Mina was worried about her sister as she got ready for the day. She had offered for Nina to spend the night in her room, but she had refused. She had said 'what would they think if she let them get to her so easily?' In a way Nina was right, but that didn't mean that Mina agreed with her.

She decided to leave the leggings off, her dress was long enough not to look slutty without them. She wanted to show that Jerome guy that she was going to be harder to charm than other girls. She didn't know why she cared, but for some reason she just did. She just met him yesterday, but the way he thought that she would be putty in his hands just irritated her. She looked at herself in the mirror one last time before leaving the room.

"Hey Mina!" She heard her name shouted out from behind her. She turned to see Alfie coming up to her. She smiled and giggled when she saw him make a funny face to her.

"Hey, Alfie. Did you get all of the food out of your ears?" She giggled as she made a show of 'looking' for food on him. He chuckled and blushed from her being close to him. It's funny, all summer and last year he was hooked on Amber, and he still liked her, but Mina was hot and liked his humor. It didn't hurt to try, now did it?

"Yup!" He said to her happily. She giggled and shook her head at his goofiness. He was about to say something else to her when an arm wrapped around his shoulder. He saw that her eyes had narrowed. He looked to his side to see that Jerome had joined them, and ruined his moment. "Oh uh, hey, Jerome." He said to his friend, giving him a fake smile.

"Why hello, Alfie. And a good day to you, Miss Mina." He said with a lop sided grin to Mina. Alfie frowned when he saw Jerome wink at Mina. He was happy to see that Mina's expression didn't change though, which was a blow for Jerome's ego majorly.

"Well, it _was_ a good morning. I'm gonna go see how Nina's holding up. I'll talk to you later, Alfie." Mina smiled and gave Alfie a small wave before she sped up and went to go check on Nina. Alfie gave her a little wave back before turning to glare at Jerome, who wasn't looking at him at all. He was staring after Mina, watching as her hips swayed as she walked, purposely teasing him it seemed. She glanced back to see that Jerome was watching her with no shame. She rolled her eyes and hurried up the stairs.

She walked to Nina and Patricia's room and knocked softly. Nina opened it a second later and walked out with a mad expression, pulling Mina along with her as she closed the door behind her. Mina looked at her confused as she followed behind Nina. "What's going on, Nina? What did she say now?" Mina asked her sister as they went down stairs.

"The same thing that she's said since she met me. She's going to find out what I apparently did to that Joy girl, who I don't even know at all." Nina said to her as she got to the bottom of the stairs. She could hear voices from the living room and knew that people were in there. She took a deep breath before they went inside. The girls gave Mara and Amber a small wave as they spotted them. When they didn't say anything, Nina just sat down and opened up her magazine. Mina sat on the arm of the chair and looked over her shoulder.

At the table Mick looked over at the Martin girls as he ate his bowl of fruit. Fabian was cleaning up the table and setting it for lunch. "So, what do you think of the new girls?" He asked his friend. He was dating Amber, but that didn't mean that he couldn't notice that the two girls were cute. Fabian looked up and spotted Nina and smiled.

"I think that, uh, Nina looks nice." Fabian said to Mick without thinking. Mick looked up at his friend with a grin. He just happened to catch on to the fact that Fabian said Nina, not both of the girls.

"Oh, _really_?" He laughed out. Fabian soon realized his mistake.

"No, um, I meant she seems nice. Mina too." Fabian tried to fix his mistake, but Mick already could tell which Martin girl his friend seemed to favor more.

"Of course ya did." Mick chuckled as Fabian took off. Mick finished up his fruit and went over to Amber and Mara on the couch, squeezing in between them. Mina had gone to get a drink from the kitchen, telling Nina not to turn the page until she got back. Fabian had returned with a pack of cards and was building a pyramid. He looked up and smiled when he saw Nina looking at him. They both looked back down shyly when they saw that they had been caught looking.

"I can't believe that creep won't give me Joy's home number." Patricia said out angrily as she stormed into the room and took the seat next to Nina. "At least she should get her stuff back the day after tomorrow." Patricia told her friends.

"That's good. You'll be able to ring her then." Mara said to her friend, hoping that this meant that Patricia would stop obsessing over Joy's sudden leaving. Patricia nodded as she looked at her phone. She turned her attention to Nina, whom had decided to reread one of the articles while she waited for Mina to come back.

"I know you've got something to do with this, _newbie_. And I'm going to find out what it is." Patricia told her determinedly.

"So you've mentioned . . . ten times." Nina said to her under her breath as she went back to reading her magazine. Patricia couldn't believe that she had the nerve to talk to her like that!

"What did you say?"

"Nothing." Nina said to her as she gave Patricia a weak smile, not wanting to start another fight with Patricia right now. All she wanted to do was get along with everyone, but the only one that seemed to want to get along with her is Fabian.

Later that night Mina had succeeded in getting under Jerome's skin with her outfit. She knew it because he kept looking at her every time that they were in the same room when he thought she wasn't looking. She doesn't get why this was so important to her. She just met the guy! She seriously needed to focus less of Jerome and focus more on helping Nina out a bit, and obviously the reason that she was here in the first place. School.

"It's ten o'clock!" Victor shouted out as Mick and Mina came running down the stairs. He had just come from Mara and Amber's room to ask Mara if she'd help him out with his biology work. Mina had come from Nina's room and listened to her rant about Patricia while said girl was taking her shower. "You both should be down stairs by now." He said to them as they walked past him, holding up their hands in surrender.

"Going. Going. Going." Mick said to him as they rushed past him and left to go to their rooms. "Night, Mina." He said to her as they got to the room. She gave him a small wave before heading in side her room.

"You have five minute precisely, and then I want to hear a pin . . . drop." He said as he pulled a pin out of his pocket and let it drop, but instead of hearing it drop, he heard foot steps coming down the stairs. "I can still hear something." He growled as Alfie came flying down the stairs.

"What? We still go four minutes." He said upon seeing Victor's look. His smile instantly dropped as Victor glared at him, not even blinking. With out another word he was gone and off to his own bed. He got to Mina's door and looked back, Victor had headed upstairs already. He knocked quickly and popped his head inside of Mina's room. "Mousey?" He whispered out. Mina's head popped out from inside of her closet.

"Hey, Alfie. You've got three minutes." She tried her best to say with a straight face, but ended up giggling. Alfie chuckled as well, glancing back into the hall to make sure that Victor wasn't standing there.

"Just wanted to say good night. So, good night!" He said to her before leaving and heading off back to his and Jerome's room. Mina giggled and shook her head as she quickly changed and slipped into bed. She hoped that letting Nina have her little ranting moment would help her last the night with Patricia.


	4. Slaps Equal Love? Since When?

I do not own anything in this story, everything, besides Mina, belongs to their rightful owners. Sadly that includes Jerome too. lol

Chapter 4

The next morning was the first day of classes for Mina and Nina, and both girls were nervous beyond words. Mina had 'Mina-fied' her uniform by stitching patches to the jacket and sizing the sweater better so it showed off her curves like a sweater should. She looked at herself in her mirror and had to agree with Nina on one thing. This uniform does not help the Harry Potter idea. She teased her hair one last time before leaving her room to go see how Mina was doing.

When she got up to Nina's room she was surprised to find it empty. Maybe she went down to breakfast already? Mina went back down stairs and headed toward the dining room to hear Patricia say that they should question the 'newbie', meaning Nina. "I'd say question me, Patricia, but I've got nothing to confess. Neither does Nina, I'm sorry to tell you." Mina made her presence known as she took the seat across from Jerome and next to Fabian.

"What about that business with the mirror?" Patricia asked them all. Mina gave Fabian a confused look, but he just shook his head. Jerome chuckled as he buttered his croissant. "What? You don't think I saw anything, do you?" Mina felt bad for Patricia. All she wanted to know was if her best friend was okay. If roles were reverse, and Nina was missing? She'd probably be doing the same thing as Patricia.

"Yes, we do. It's just, Mick saw Alfie hanging out in our corridor last night." Amber told them.

"Not even Alfie would have the nerve to sneak into our bathroom and do something like that." Patricia said to them. She looked over at Mina to see that she had an understanding expression, unlike her own friends who were annoyed with her.

"Are we talking about the same Alfie?" Jerome asked her with complete seriousness. Patricia stayed silent, making Jerome's point quite clear.

"So who do you think did write it then? Joy?" Fabian asked her.

"I don't know. Maybe . . . Maybe Nina wrote it to drive me crazy." Patricia was just determined to blame this all on Nina. All shred of sympathy that Mina had for Patricia just went down every time that she blamed her sister. Jerome saw the look on Mina's face and chuckled.

"I'm not even going to touch that." Mina said as she threw Jerome a look to stop it. She couldn't help but smile though. What could she say? Jerome's laugh was contagious. "Where is Nina anyways? She wasn't in her room." Mina asked the others, thinking that maybe one of them knew where Nina had gone.

"Gone to school early I think." Fabian told her. She nodded, not very surprised by that.

"Awww, she's a geek as well as everything else, is she?" Patricia groaned, hating Nina more and more by the second. Mina shot her a look, ready to say something to her to defend Nina, but Fabian's hand on her arm stopped her.

"I think it's probably more about getting away from us. I mean, we've hardly been very welcoming to her and Mina." Fabian said to the others, glancing at Mina to show her that they hadn't been their nicest to her as well as Nina.

"I know, I was thinking that too. I feel a bit mean." Mara said to them, feeling horrible with how she was treating Nina just because Joy was gone. It wasn't Nina or Mina's fault that Joy was gone, she knew that much.

"I can be very welcoming." Jerome smirked, his eyes locked on Mina. Her eyes narrowed at him. With out even flinching, she kicked him underneath the table hardly, causing him to groan in pain. "Feisty, I like it." He tried to laugh, but his shin was really hurting him now. The others at the table all laughed. She wiped her mouth with her napkin as she got up from her seat.

"I should probably go find her. As much as you'd like to say it, Patricia, Nina's not that much of a nerd to want to go to school early. She's probably just looking around the grounds." Mina said to them as she put her things away in the kitchen.

"Would you like me to come with you, Mina? So you don't get lost in the woods or something?" She heard Fabian ask her from his seat in the dining room. She smiled, knowing that his intentions where not as gentlemanly like as he was trying to sound. He just wanted to see Nina.

"I'll go. I've seen more than young Fabian here." Jerome called out to her. Mina chuckled as she came back into the room and walked over to Jerome. She leaned on his shoulder, her face just inches away from his, not even maybe closer. Jerome tilted his head and smirked, thinking that she had finally come to her senses. She's been here three days now and she had yet to swoon over his charm.

"If you came, how could we talk about you then?" She tilted her head with a smile of her own. Jerome's smirk fell for a second. He heard the girls and Fabian all chuckling at him. "I'll see you guys later." She said as she ruffled Jerome's hair before leaving the room. Fabian didn't miss to notice Jerome staring after Mina, neither had Amber.

She grabbed her bag from her room before leaving the house to go find Nina. Only she ended up not needing to look far. She found Nina only a few feet away with some old lady. "Nina!" Mina shouted out as she jogged over to them. Nina gave her a look and she slowed down. Mina knew that Nina didn't want to frighten the older woman.

"Hey, Min. Sarah, this my cousin Mina. Mina, this is Sarah. She says that she use to live here." Nina explained to Mina. She nodded and gave Sarah a warm smile. Sarah seemed to brighten up upon seeing both girls in front of her.

"Its you! Your both here." She said to the girls. Mina looked at Nina confused, but she just shrugged, silently telling her that she didn't know.

"Hello, Sarah. So you lived here before? That's sounds pretty cool. Would you like to come inside and warm up or something?" Mina asked the older woman. She seemed to freeze at the mention of going inside of the Anubis house though.

"I've already asked her. I've called the old home to tell them that she was here. I'm going over there to talk to her for a bit when they come to pick her up." Nina explained to her sister. Mina nodded that she understood. Nina would be missing at least first peirod then. Knowing Nina, she could get away with missing one class.

"Okay, well I'll see you later then, Nina. It was nice meeting you, Sarah. Maybe I can come by to see you soon. I have to get to class soon though so I'm not late." Mina said nicely to the old woman. Nina nodded, giving her a quick hug good bye. Nina and Sarah watched as Mina walked off to go get to her first class, or at least get an idea of where she was going.

Mina was walking down the hall of the school alone when she suddenly found herself lost. She must have written down that number wrong. Did that kid say third or fourth floor? God, she really should have taken that map. She stopped in the middle of the hallway, not even knowing where she was anymore. She groaned in annoyance and threw her head back.

"Well, I'd say that you're lost, luv." She jumped at the unexpected voice and spun around to see a boy standing behind her. He was cute, but she's seen cuter. He wasn't as tall as Jerome, nor did his hair have that funny look to it. He was about her height, and had brown short hair. She shook her head, why the heck was she comparing this guy to Jerome?

"I'd say that I was am too." She laughed out as she took out her class schedule and moved closer to him. Maybe he would know where she was suppose to be right now. "Maybe you can fix that for me? Do you know where . . . room 54b is?" Mina asked the boy, showing him her paper.

"Uh, yeah. It's just below this floor and just your luck, right by the stairs." The boy laughed to her as he handed her back her paper. "I'm Brandon by the way." The boy said to her as they made their way toward the stairs. Mina blushed and smiled at him.

"I'm Mina." She smiled as they walked down one flight of stairs together. Just like he had said, her class was right by the stairs. She noticed that Alfie and Jerome were standing at the lockers near the door. Oh great.

"So, just so you don't get lost again, maybe I can show you around campus sometime? Maybe around town as well?" Brandon asked her. She felt her cheeks blush. She didn't know what to say. A part of her was screaming to say yes, but a bigger part of her was telling her to say no.

Alfie glanced past Jerome and saw some guy talking to Mina. He frowned, hoping the the guy wasn't doing what he thought he was doing. Jerome caught up to the fact that Alfie wasn't paying any attention to him at all. He looked behind him and frowned. He could tell by the body language that the guy was asking Mina out, but he could tell that she hadn't answered him yet. He motioned Alfie that he would see him later before he went over to them.

"There you are, I was starting to get worried. Thanks for finding her, mate. How's history by the way?" Jerome said as he came up behind them, wrapping his arm around Mina's shoulders. She looked up at him in shock, not knowing if she liked him interrupting or not. Brandon seemed to get the message and took off faster than Mina had seem any boy run before. She spun around on her heels, swatting Jerome's hand off of her shoulder.

"What do you think you are doing?" She asked him angrily, but he could tell that she wasn't exactly as mad at him as she seemed.

"Saving you of course. Do I get a kiss for being your knight in shining armor now?" Jerome asked her, puckering his lips as he leaned down toward her. She froze where she stood. She couldn't believe him! She gave him a nice hard slap before storming off into the class room. Jerome rubbed his jaw, nodding as he realized that she wasn't going to be easy to win over.

"Now, that was funny." Alfie laughed as he came up behind Jerome. Jerome narrowed his eyes at Alfie and glared at him. That was not funny at all to him. Alfie was just happy that Mina didn't kiss him, or let him kiss her, either way there would have been a kiss.

"She so wants me." Jerome was serious.

"How do you know? Cause, I would think that a slap means the opposite of that." Alfie asked him as they walked into the class room that Mina had gone into a minute ago. They took their seats in the back of the room, Jerome's eyes next leaving the back of Mina's head.

"Opposites attract. More importantly though, it's all about body language, my dear friend. I moved in far too quickly on the girl. Mina is obviously going to be much harder to charm than the usual girls here. She won't be able to deny me after long though." Jerome explained to his friend next to him. Alfie frowned, hoping that Jerome was wrong for once. Only time would tell though, and hopefully time was on his side when concerning Mina.


	5. Since Forever? Yeah Right!

Thanks for the reviews! I do not own anything besides Mina, everything else belongs to their rightful owners.

I rewrote the end of this chapter of this chapter.

Chapter 5

The next morning Mina was already in the kitchen, trying to ignore the three at the kitchen table talking about her sister. Nina apparently had a nightmare last night and Patricia wasn't making it any better. It confused her as they talked about it though. Why was she dreaming about a black bird? Was it Victor's stuffed bird thing? Cause she'd have nightmares of that thing too if she was Nina.

Mina glanced up to see Jerome watching her, but the second she saw him he looked back at Patricia. She rolled her eyes and finished up preparing her breakfast. "Will you three just leave her alone? If she's dreaming about that stuffed bird thing of Victor's, I don't blame her for screaming. That thing is a nightmare just looking at it." Mina said out to them. They looked at her for a second before lowing their voices to a whisper. She walked back into the other room and sat down on Fabian's left.

"They're just like that, don't bother with them." Fabian told her, shooting a look down at the other end of the table. Mina smiled softly at him, she liked Fabian the most out of the others in the house. Not in a crush kind of like, but close friend kind of like. Not to say that he wasn't cute, or funny, or nice, but she could tell that he liked Nina.

"I just hate that she tortures Nina so much, and they have to room together too." Mina said to him as she glanced down at the other three. "And Alfie's not that bad, he's actually pretty nice to me. He just takes stuff a bit too extremely some times." Mina says to him, laughing when she saw the look Fabian was giving her. Fabian glanced past Mina and saw Jerome watching them. He had to admit, usually when girls turned Jerome down, he was over it after a day. He hadn't dropped Mina yet though. Maybe it was because they lived together? He didn't know, but he did know that this was going to fun.

"And Jerome? What about him?" Fabian asked her, his voice loud enough for Jerome to hear him. He noticed a blush on Mina's cheeks and smiled. Maybe Jerome will have more luck with Mina than he is with Nina. He liked her a lot, but didn't know what to say to her. She was perfectly fine with being friends, so he didn't want to mess that up.

"See, now that's a hard question to answer. As much as I would like to say he's the most irritating person that I've ever met before. He isn't. Besides, he saved me from having to go on a date that I didn't want to go on." Mina said to him with a shrug. Fabian saw that Jerome was grinning a bit more than he was a second ago and chuckled. He wasn't surprised to hear that Jerome stopped a kid from asking her out. He didn't like competition, but really? What guy ever did?

"So boys already fancy you then?" Fabian asked her. He noticed that her blush had gotten darker. Did more boys fancy her than just Jerome and who ever else had asked her out? He knew that Alfie might fancy her as well, but as much as she says that Alfie has more of a chance with her than Jerome? He knows that it wasn't true.

"I like that word. Fancy, it sounds cute. Fabian, do you fancy one of the Martin girls, say one that rhymes with Dina?" Mina giggled when Fabian choked on biscuit. She was surprised to hear one of the others at the other end of the table choke on their food as well.

"Well, uh . . . um . . ." Fabian didn't know what to say. Mina just giggled and shook her head. She was only kidding around, and she wasn't talking about herself. She was talking about Nina, but she knew that he knew who she was talking about so she didn't feel the need to make it clear out loud.

"Do you think Victor will let us go out into the town on Friday? I don't have any plans yet, but I'm concidering offers." Mina asked Fabian. Fabian coughed on his juice and looked at her with wide eyes. He glanced at Jerome to see that he was coughing as well. Mina caught that as well and gave Fabian a wink. He soon caught on that she wasn't talking about her and himself.

"Most likely, just make sure to be back by lights out I guess." Fabian told her once he stopped coughing. Mina seemed to brighten up after he said that.

"Sleep well, Nina?" Patricia said out in a fake innocent voice. "Caw. Caw." Patricia stared, the two guys joining in. Mina shot them all a look before turning around to look at Nina. She gave her a soft smile as Nina sat down in the chair on Fabian's right.

"Ig . . ignore them." Fabian leaned closer to her and said to her.

"I am." Nina said to him as she looked down at her plate. Fabian looked over at the three and couldn't believe that just a second ago he was feeling bad for Jerome where Mina was concerned. He's happy that Mina didn't fall for his charm.

"So, what was this dream about anyways?" Fabian asked her, lowering his voice so that Patricia and other two didn't hear him. Mina nodded, she wanted to know as well. The look on Nina's face was killing her. She hated seeing Nina scared or hurt, the same went for Nina about Mina.

"It was awful. I know they're making jokes, but it felt so real. It felt . . . evil." Nina told them, her eyes locked on Fabian's. Mina reached her arm out and gave Nina a comforting squeeze.

"Has anybody seen Mara? She's got my hair straightener." Amber asked as she came into the room.

"Yeah, uh, she's with Mick in our room." Fabian told her. Mina winced, knowing that that might not be the best thing to tell Amber.

"What?"

"Uh oh, green eyed monster alert." Jerome chuckled to the table. Mina couldn't believe him, even if he was right. She picked up Fabian's toast and chucked it at Jerome. "Hey!" Hey shouted out as he tried to shake the cinnamon out of his hair. Mina giggled before muttering a 'sorry' to Fabian.

"I'm not jealous. Why would I be jealous? What's there to be jealous of?" Amber said to them, obviously lying through her teeth that it didn't bother her.

"She's helping him with homework, that's all." Fabian tried to reassure her. Mina didn't know Amber that well, but she did know that she liked Mick a lot. No girl wants their boyfriend hanging out with their best friend alone, in his room non the less.

"Yeah, I know all about that, and it's cool. I would help him, but I'm just so busy." Amber brushed it off as she flipped her hair over her shoulder. Next to her Jerome mimicked her with the hair flip motion, causing Alfie and Patricia to laugh. Mina went to grab an orange to chuck at him, but Fabian's hand caught her wrist before she could.

"He's certainly not worth wasting a perfectly good orange over." Fabian whispered to her, keeping his hand locked around her wrist until she sighed and let the orange drop from her hand. Fabian looked up at Jerome and saw him looking at Mina with an amused grin on his face.

"I see you haven't sneaked out at the crack of dawn today." Amber said as she turned her attention to Nina now.

"Wow, everyone really does keep tabs on everyone else here, don't they?" Nina said out to the table. Mina shot her a look, telling her not to be rude to Amber. She hadn't been mean, maybe a little cold, but not like Patricia, to her. Trudy came into the room from the kitchen.

"Fabian said you had gone to school early, then you didn't turn up for first class." Amber just was curious. Mina knew that she was right before. Nina had missed first class because of that old woman that they found outside of the house.

"Nina was helping an old lady across the road, literally." Trudy told the group. Alfie chuckled, thinking that it was funny. "We had a surprise visitor, from the old people's home." Trudy said to them before leaving back to the kitchen.

"I'm not very good with old people. They're all so . . . old, aren't they?" Amber said, completely serious. Fabian spit back out his juice when Amber said that, with a straight face even. Mina giggled at Fabian, he just couldn't seem to enjoy his breakfast without choking on it.

"Really?" Jerome asked her as Alfie chuckled away.

"Still, you two must be use to it. Trudy told us your gran brought you both up." Amber said to Nina, glancing at Mina to tell her that she was including Mina in this conversation as well.

"She did, yeah." Nina told her, glancing at Mina quickly.

"Well, what happened to your mom and dad?" Amber asked them. This time is was Mina's turn to choke on her juice. Fabian patted her on the back as he handed her a napkin. Nina caught the curious looks and sighed. She and Mina shared a quick look. She wasn't sure how much Mina wanted people to know about her parents.

"Mina and I are actually cousins, not sisters. Mina's parents died when she was a baby, she's lived with me as long as I can remember so we just think of ourselves as sister. My parents actually died in a car accident." Nina told them sadly. Amber's expression dropped, now feeling horrible that she had asked them.

"Oh. That's awful." Amber said to Nina and Mina as she looked down at her plate. Fabian looked back and forth between Mina and Nina sadly.

"It was a long time ago. Our Gran and us are really close." Mina told her, not wanting Amber to feel bad. Like she said, it was long time ago. She didn't even remember her parents much. Nina looked at Mina curiously, wondering why she was acting so cool about it. She knew for a fact that Mina was far from over parent's death, even if it has been years.

"So how come she's packed you both off to a big, bad, boarding school? Miles away from home then. Sounds me like she wanted to get rid . . ."

"Patricia!" Fabian cut her off, not believing that she was going there with the Martin girls. Nina saw that Mina was at the point of either running out of the room or smacking the heck out of Patricia. Mina quickly wiped her mouth and ran out of the room with a quick excuse. "Don't be such a witch. I know you're upset about Joy, there's no reason to be taking all of this out on Nina, or Mina." Fabian told her, glancing worriedly over at the door way that Mina had run out of him.

"Yeah, but everybody has seemed to forgotten all about Joy, except me." Patricia said to them angrily as she got up and left the room. Nina kept her head down as she walked past her. Fabian turned to Nina once she was gone.

"Will Mina be alright?" Fabian asked her. Nina looked up at him after a moment and nodded.

"Yeah, um, she probably just wants to finish getting ready for class. She'll be fine. I should probably go see if I, um, left that, uh, thing in her room." Nina quickly excused herself from the table before going after Mina. Fabian sighed as he watched her take off. Fabian looked at Jerome and Alfie to see them staring at the doorway as well. Amber had her head down as she picked at her food.

The girls were sitting with Fabian in biology when the bell rang. The girls were chatting away about Mina's date still, now pulling Fabian into the conversation when Mina asked him where there was to go in town. Fabian couldn't help but notice the unusual high amount of coughing coming from the back of the room today and fought back the laughter that was tickling his throat.

"I have to go. I've got a place that I gotta be. Bye Nina." Mina said to them as she got up and handed their teacher her homework. "I'll check you later, Fabian." She said as she kissed his cheek quickly before heading out of the room, walking right passed a stunned Jerome. Nina shot Fabian a confused look. He just shook his head telling her that he'd explain it to her later.

"Jerome, come on." Patricia swatted his arm before she got up first and went up to Nina and Fabian. "Hey, Nina. I just wanted to say . . . you know, sorry about breakfast." Patricia said to her, trying her best to sound like she was really apologizing.

"It's fine. A little teasing helps the tangos go down." Nina laughed as she went to leave, but Patricia wasn't done yet.

"Oh, and uh, I think, it's about time, we welcomed you into the school properly. The traditional way." Patricia said to Nina, Alfie and Jerome now flanking her sides. Fabian looked at the Alfie and Patricia confused. Jerome was glaring at him.

"What are you going on about?" Fabian asked her, not having a clue as to what she was going on about.

"Alfie, why don't you tell Nina about the initiation ceremony." Patricia said, her eyes locked on Nina the whole time.

"What?" Fabian was now beyond confused.

"Yeah. Every new person that comes to school had to under go, like . . . initiation ceremony." Alfie said to her, leaving both Fabian and Nina confused and curious to what they were going on about. Nina couldn't help but think that this was her way in.

"Since when?" Fabian couldn't believe this. He knew right off the bat that they were lying about all of this. If it was true he himself would have had to gone through it, and they would have come over before Mina left, since just like Nina, she was new to the school as well.

"Since forever, Fabian." Patricia said to him with a pointed look, hoping that Fabian didn't ruin this for her. Nina knew that she was pulling a prank on her, but just wanted Patricia not to hate her anymore.

"What are you trying to . . ."

"It's okay. Sounds like fun. What do Mina and I have to do. I mean, since she's new here too." Nina was trying to catch them up, but found that they were a step ahead of her. Jerome and Alfie shared a look, smiling to themselves. Nina now felt bad for her sister. When those two were planning something? Nothing could go right.

"Oh, don't worry about Miss Mina. Since there are two of you, you both will be doing two different things." Jerome told her before they all were told to leave the room. Nina shared a look with Fabian as they left the room. For some reason she was more nervous about what Mina had to do than what she had to do.

Fabian and Nina were in Mina's room after dinner. There was, yet again, another food fight during the meal. Nina and Fabian hadn't received the worst of it, thankfully, but unfortunately, Mina had since she had made the mistake, yet again, to sit near Alfie and Jerome. She had ended up covered in BBQ sauce. Though, she wasn't the only one.

Jerome ended up with the actual ribs on him because Mina had gotten up from her seat, and before anyone knew what she was doing, she dumped her plated of ribs on top of his head. Then she ran out of the room, skidding a little when she turned down the hall, and went to take, yet again, another shower. By the end of the night she'll probably so clean she's literally shine.

Mina came into her room to find Nina and Fabian talking to each other in hushed voices. "Hey guys." She said out to them as she shut the door behind her. The two jumped out of their conversation and shared nervous glances with each other. "Did I interrupt something? Is this about that initiation thing you told me about in history? I still can't believe that you agreed to that, by the way. So, did I interupt something?" Mina said as she giggled, wiggling her eye brows at them suggestively. She laughed when she saw Nina blush like crazy, as was Fabian.

"Oh, uh, no. We were just, uh, waiting for you. About the iniation thing, Min, it's not a big deal. I do what it is they want me to do, and then it's over with." Nina said to her as shifted nervously on the bed. Mina shook her head and bit back her laughter. Fabian was the first to take notice that Mina was only in her bath robe, her wet hair leaving a big puddle of water on the floor now. He froze up at the sight. Of course he fanitized about girls in towels, he was a teenaged boy! This was different though, this was Mina!

"Oh, uh, we should go and let you get ready for bed." Fabian said to Mina as he covered his eyes, not wanting to see Mina at the moment. This just caused both girls to giggle as he bumped into the bed side table. Mina covered her mouth as she chuckled. Fabian had to be the funniest shy boy that she's ever met. She had to admit that as silly as it looked, he was a true gentalmen for closing his eyes and not looking at her. It if were Jerome or any other boy, they would have stayed and just looked at her like she was piece of meat or something.

"We'll see you in the morning, Min. I should get him out of here before he breaks something." Nina said to her sister with an eye roll as she took Fabian's arm and guided him out of the room. She opened the door before got to it so she could get Fabian out of the room quicker.

"Watch out for the . . ." Mina cringed when she watched Nina and Fabian go down. They had slipped on the puddle of water. "Urg . . . never mind." Mina bit her lip, slowly closing her door and leaving them to themselves in the hall on the floor. On the other side of the door she could hear Nina and Fabian stuttering apologies to the other as they scrambled to their feet. Mina shook her head and chuckled to herself as she went to go change into her pajamas before she went to bed.


	6. Smells Like Coffee    Ick!

_Thanks for the reviews everyone!_

_HouseOfAnubisGirlxFabiana - I'll see what I can add in for them. I've already written ahead of this point, but I'm sure I could add in more lines for them lol._

_EClarefan4ever - It's close to the show because it's suppose to be the show just with my oc. I know that's cheating in a way, but I hope that doesn't turn people away from reading._

_Thanks everyone else who reviewed! I'm glad you're all enjoying the story! There are some new scenes in this chapter!_

**Chapter 6**

"So, Nina's initiation takes place tomorrow night, okay? At midnight." Patricia said to Nina and the others at the table. Amber was placing out all of the plates around the table. Jerome was on sitting on Patricia's right, trying his best not to laugh. Alfie was sitting across from him. Mina was on Nina's left and was rolling her eyes, not believing that Nina was going through with this. Fabian was sitting across from her on Nina's right.

"At the witching hour. Muhahah." Alfie laughed out, causing Jerome to laugh as well. Mina shot Alfie a look, but he didn't see it.

"Alfie! Cut it out." Fabian said to him. He still couldn't believe that Nina was going along with this stupid thing, both him and Mina knew that she was only doing it because she wanted Patricia to leave her alone. They both knew that this would do nothing, but it wasn't like Nina would listen to them.

"Tell me, Fabian, does it get boring? Always, always, being the one to be like, cut it out, or that's not right, or fun is bad." Jerome laughed out, causing his side of the table to crack up in laughter. Mina shot him a glare, which he didn't see since he wasn't looking at her. Fabian pretended to laugh a long with them, but suddenly stopped, his face now serious.

"No."

"Drives me mad." Jerome said to himself as he went to start eating his meal.

"Why don't you just leave him alone, Jerome. We all know that it is bogus. I mean both Nina and me are new here, yet only Nina has to do what ever this thing is." Mina said to him angrily, just wanting to put a stop to this already. Jerome glanced at Alfie before turning to her.

"Oh, you're going to be doing something as well. Just not what Nina has to do." Jerome told her, keeping as vague about it to her as he could. Mina glared at him, but didn't say anything more about it.

"What does Nina have to do?" Amber asked them.

"Go up to the spooky attic and bring something back to prove that she's been." Alfie told Amber, making sure to make a point to Nina that it was going to be scary and not a walk in the park.

"You're going up into the attic?" Amber asked her, not believing that Nina would do that.

"Sure, why not? It's not like it's . . ."

"Totally haunted." Amber cut her off.

"Really?" Nina asked her, now a little more scared than she had been a moment ago. Jerome and the other two straightend up in their seats, happy to see that Nina wasn't as calm as she had been before.

"Yeah, she's right, by the ghost of former students who went up there . . . never to return." Jerome said to Nina, trying to scare her more. Mina slapped his arm since he had moved closer to her and was now in hitting range. "Ow! What was that for?" He shouted out as he rubbed his arm. Fabian, Amber, Alfie, and Nina all just chuckled at the two.

"Stop trying to scare her." Mina told him.

"It's not our fault if she's getting cold feet." Patricia laughed, hoping that Nina backed out. Nina knew that was what she wanted though, so she wasn't going to back out any time soon.

"Not at all. Lets start tonight. Can't wait." Nina said to them, just wanting to get this over with already. If only it was that easy though.

"Oooh, we got something else planned for you tonight." Patricia said to her happily. Fabian grumbled under his breath, causing Mina to giggle. Jerome's jaw set tightly, but he hid his anger well. "The key. She can't go up into the attic, with out the key. She has to steal it from . . . Victor." Patricia said to them all seriously. Fabian and Mina shared a nervous look before looking at Nina, who looked equally as nervous.

"There's a bunch of keys on his desk next to Victor." Alfie told her. He, Nina, Patricia, Jerome, and Mina were all standing at the top of the stairs down the hall from Victor's room, where he was inside at his desk. Nina was going to try and get the attic key for tomorrow night.

"Yeah."

"Those are the master keys. He carries them with him every where he goes. So, you'll never get them." Alfie explained to him. Nina and Mina gave him a sharp look. Why would they give Nina a task that she couldn't even get to try to do?

"But, there is a key box on the wall just beside him." Patricia said to her, looking back at Victor's room. He was doing something on his desk, reading or writing something they guessed. Mina leaned back against the railing, trying to get a look inside. She did indeed see a box of what she guessed was spare keys on the wall. She felt a hand on her back and jumped, looking up at Jerome, the owner of the hand.

"Don't want you to fall over. What use would you be then." He said to her, seriousness playing in his eyes. She gave him a small nod, silently thanking him. "Yeah, so anyways, he keeps a spare set of every single key in there." Jerome explained to the girls, making the mistake of pointing to the room. Victor looked up to see them all staring at his room.

"What are you lock looking at?" He asked them as he got up from his seat. The group acted quickly and moved around. Jerome slid his arm around Mina and pulled her closer to him as Alfie hid on the stairs. Nina and Patricia straightend up and acted as if they were just hanging around. "Hmmm?" Victor asked as he came over to them.

"Sir, we were just trying to . . ." Jerome started, but had no clue as to what to actually say.

"We were just admiring your coat." Mina saved him from stuttering like an idiot in front of Victor and ruining everything. Even if she didn't like this, it was important to Nina and she wouldn't let something happen to ruin it for her. Victor gave her a strange look, glancing up at Jerome, who still had his arm around her. "Is it vintage?" She asked him, pretending to be completely interested in his old coat. She looked up at Jerome and saw him giving her a confused look. She just gave him a wink as she took a hold of his hand and entwined their fingers together. He smiled to himself, taking full advantage of the situation by holding her closer to him.

"Yeah. Ju . . j . . . just as I thought. This floor! It could . . . it could u . . use a polish." Alfie stuttered out with a small chuckle from his spot on the stairs. Victor moved to the top of the stairs, narrowing his eyes down at Alfie.

"Hmm." Victor looked up from Alfie to Jerome next to him. Mina felt his instantly tense up and felt horrible. Jerome was terrified of Victor, but really? Who wasn't? She rubbed circles on his hand, trying to comfort him without anyone noticing, well besides Jerome. "Yes. In that case, please feel free to polish it, Alfie." Victor said as he picked Alfie up from the floor and dragged him down the stairs, ignoring his protest the whole way.

The group watched as he took Alfie down stairs. Without a seconds notice, Nina was off running toward Victor's office. Mina opened her mouth to call after her, but that would just tip Victor off that something was happening up here. "I knew you'd warm up to me." Jerome chuckled in her ear, his warm breath hitting the back of her neck. She rolled her eyes and twisted his arm that was still wrapped around her.

"In your dreams, Jerome." She muttered to him as he rubbed his now soar arm.

"Every night, Miss Mina. Every night." He chuckled to her, causing her to blush. Patricia had enough of their flirting and swatted Jerome's soar arm, shushing them both. They watched as Nina got Victor's keys and went to unlock the box. They jumped when they heard Amber's scream downstairs. Victor was coming back.

"Come on, Nina. Hurry." Mina whispered as she watched Nina get the key and lock the box up again. She raced back out of the room and showed them the key. Mina's smile dropped when she noticed that the master keys were still in her other hand. Nina realized that she had still had them and raced back inside the room to put them back. Mina saw that Victor and Alfie were coming the stairs and cringed, keeping her eyes closed when she saw Nina go down. Patricia smiled, thinking that Nina had gotten caught.

"Nina Martin, what are you doing?" Victor growled out when he saw Nina on the floor of his office holding onto his stuffed Ravin. "This had better be good." He growled as he came more into the room, now standing over a guilty Nina. Nina sat up, trying to think of something to say. "What were you doing in here?" Victor asked her as he took the bird from her hands.

"Um, I was, um, um, was getting a closer look at Corbierre." Nina said quickly to him. The four waited at the stairs, three hoping that she in trouble, and Mina hoping that Victor let her go. "I'm, sort of, an Amateur . . . taxidermist?" She said to him, hoping that he bought it.

"Get out!" Victor shouted out. Nina jumped, but didn't need to be told twice to leave. "And don't let me catch you in my office ever again." Victor said out to her as she stopped at the group. He shut the door, keeping his eye on the group for a few more moments. Nina pulled the key out of her pocket and showed it to the others. Mina grabbed onto Jerome's arm in excitement. She was amazed, as were Alfie and Jerome. Patricia was still unimpressed.

"Lucky. Very lucky." Jerome laughed quietly to Nina as she put the key back into her pocket.

"Well, we'll see how lucky she is tomorrow night when she goes up into that attic." Patricia said bitterly to Nina, not pleased that she hadn't gotten caught with the key. The others shook their heads and went back down stairs, besides Alfie since he now had to polish the stairs.

Mina was walking around the school grounds. She had her sketch book and pencil in her hand by her side. She was trying to find something that caught her eye long enough to want to draw it. She hasn't had enough inspiration to draw something since she got here. She couldn't seem to focus though. She was still having worries about Nina and this initiation thing.

She had this feeling in her gut that something bad was going to happen tomorrow night. Nina had gotten lucky with the key situation earlier, but what if she wasn't as lucky and got caught by Victor? What would happen to her then? Would Victor get Nina thrown out of the school and sent back to America? She doubted that anyone besides Fabian and herself would try to help her.

"Whoa!" Mina had been so wrapped up with her thoughts that she hadn't been watching where she was looking. She jumped back when suddenly her chest felt like it was on fire. Her sketch book fell down to the ground, hopefully not getting that much ruined.

"Watch it, klutz! I mean, uh . . . sorry." Mina looked up from the coffee stain on her white shirt to see that it was cute guy who had walked into her, or she walked into him. The guy's lips twitched up, creating a lop sided grin on his face. It wasn't like Jerome's grin, but it was still cute. Mina blushed at the thought of Jerome and smiled back shyly. Why was she still comparing other boys to Jerome? "I'm Robert Crisp, sorry about that luv." He said to her as he held out his hand to her.

"I'm Mina Martin, and it was my fault. I wasn't watching where I was going." Mina said to him, biting her lip when she heard his chuckle. She mentally scolded herself for acting like a blushing fool and gave him a small smile. "Robert, that's a bit too formal for me, would Robby do?" She took a bold move and asked him. Robert chuckled and nodded to her, causing her to giggle.

"Robby it is then, luv. C'mon lets get you inside and cleaned up." Robby chuckled as he picked up her fallen sketch book. "You draw?" He asked her as he handed her the book. She smiled and nodded as she held her book at her side. "Why don't I take you out to dinner this Friday to make up for this spill?" Robby said as he motioned her to lead the way back to her house. She smiled, bitting her lip as she led the way to the Anubis house.

The two were coming up to the front doors to the Anubis house. Robby was about to open the door for Mina, but she grabbed his arm, motioning him to let her. She opened the door and popped her head inside. "Hello? Anybody here?" She shouted out, only to be welcomed with silence. She smiled and motioned Robby to come inside.

The two just entered the main hall as Trudy was coming in from the kitchen. "Miss. Mina, sweetie, what happened to you? Who's this?" Trudy said as she hurried Mina toward the kitchen to clean up with Robby following behind them. Trudy grabbed a rag and soaked it in hot water.

"This is Robby, we bumped into each other outside . . . literally." Mina laughed as Trudy dabbed Mina's shirt with the rag. "Oh, um, Robby, I'll see you in class tomorrow? I should go put this in the wash and take a shower before the smell sinks in and stays." Mina said to him, blushing at how this must look to him. Trudy was still trying to get the stain out, all the while soaking her already ruined white shirt.

"You don't like coffee? You American's are so odd. I should be going anyways, Luv. I'll see you in classes then. It was nice meeting you, Babes." Robby said to her before heading out of the kitchen and leaving the house. Trudy waited until she heard the front door close shut to give Mina a knowing smile.

"And who is he? Should the boys be warned to be on watch?" Trudy chuckled as she sighed and stopped trying to scrub away the coffee stain. "I'm sorry, sweetie, but there's not much more I can do with this until I put in the wash." Trudy said as she set down the rag.

"It's fine, Trudy. I just met him a few minutes ago actually. He asked me out for dinner on Friday." Mina told her, trying to hold in all of her giddiness. Trudy chuckled at the girl in front of her. "I'm going to go take that shower before I smell like coffee." Mina said to Trudy before leaving the room as Mick came in.

"What happened to Mina?" Mick asked Trudy as he came in and grabbed a pop tart to snack on before dinner. Trudy smiled to herself, glad to see that both new girls were getting along pretty well with the others now.

"She says that she ran into her date. Literaly. You and the boys keep an eyes out, will you sweetie?" Trudy asked as she wipped down the counter. She got a weird vibe from Robby, but didn't want to say anything. Mina obviously liked this boy, and it wasn't her place to say anything. She'd feel better if the boys of the house keep an eye on the two though. She very much doubt that more likely Jerome will take the most interest in this. She may be getting old, but she still saw sparks when she saw them.

"Sure, Trudy." Mick told her before he left the room, having finished one of his poptarts. He took the other one with him back to his room before he went out for a run before dinner.

The kid all sat round the dinner table, all the chairs for once filled up. It was overly crowded and it didn't help that there was tension. Nina and Patricia sat at both ends of the tables and they were glaring at each other, or well, Patricia was glaring and Nina was giving her a smug look. Jerome sat in between Mara and Mina as Fabian sat in between Mina and Nina on the Nina's left. Amber sat in between Alfie and Mick on Patricia's left side.

Mina felt as if she was practically on top of Fabian. She didn't want to be so close to Jerome after the incident in the hallway earlier. She had actually attempted in comforting Jerome. Why in the world would she do that? Oh yeah, she's a nice person, that's why. She kept muttering a 'sorry' to Fabian everytime they bumped elbows or legs.

"You know, Mina, I don't bite, much anyways." Jerome whispered over to her, causing her to blush and tense up in her seat. This made Jerome chuckle as he took another bite of his food.

"Why don't you two just snog and get it over with? I mean, Mina, Jerome's surely going to get over the whole blushing 'aw I'm American and so cute' routine. I mean, you Gran did when she shipped you both off here." Patricia spoke out in bitterness to Mina. Everyone at the table jaw's dropped, even Jerome's. Mina didn't even feel like fighting with Patricia tonight.

"What ever, Patricia. Get a stupid life already." Mina said as she pushed back her seat, tossing her napkin onto the table before she stormed off. Patricia sat back with a satified grin on her face. Nina just shook her head in disgust before she tossed her napkin onto her plate and going after Mina. Fabian was about to do the same, but the look Nina gave him before she left the room was clear. This was a sister to sister thing, not a sister to sister to Fabian thing.

Nina got to Mina's room and knocked before going inside the room. She popped her head inside of the room first and looked around for her sister. Mina was sitting at her mirror trying to take off her make up before heading to bed. She could see that her mascra had started to run before she had a chance to get it off. Dinner had been another disaster, no surprise there.

Patricia was not happy that Nina had gotten the key without getting caught by Victor, and was taking it out on Mina. Nina sighed and walked inside of the room, closing the door behind her. Mina didn't even turn around, even if she knew Nina was making her presence known by making sure she heard the door clicked shut.

"I'm fine. I just want to get some extra sleep. It's been a long day, Nina." Mina said to her as she wiped her eye liner off. Nina walked up behind her and grabbed a tissue, as much as she wanted to go back and yell at Patricia for attacking Mina for no reason, she was going to be stay here for Mina. It was her turn to break down this time and Nina's to comfort her. She helped Mina get off the running mascara off of her face.

"She's just mad that her friend is gone. What's worse is that no one else seems to care that she hasn't talked to them in a while. I mean, I'd probably be doing the same thing if I was in her shoes and you had suddenly left without a good bye." Nina wasn't going to say that what Patricia had said about their Gran was okay, because it wasn't, but she could see where the anger was coming from.

"I'd be acting the same way too if you pulled that on me." Mina tried to laugh as she finished up with taking off her make-up. Nina smiled and gave her a small little hug. Nina knew that it was time to change the subject from Patricia to something else.

"So, should we have a movie night on Friday?" She asked her sister as she looked at her through the mirror. Mina bit her lip and a blush rose to her face. Nina caught this and smiled, knowing that Mina had something to tell her.

"I, uh, kind of have a date on Friday." Mina gave her sister an innocent shrug, a small smile playing on her face. Nina laughed and hugged her sister again. She was happy to know that her sister was getting out there. She's seen Mina's flirting with Jerome and knew it would only be a short time before she got a date. Her smile dropped at that thought. "What is it?" Mina asked her upon seeing her expression drop.

"You're not . . . you're not going on a date with Jerome, are you?" Nina asked her sister, leaning over her shoulder to look at her in face. Mina looked at her like she had three heads. Where did that come from? Jerome hasn't even made a real move on her, only little lines here and there, but that was a typical guy thing.

"Not that I know of. His name is Robby, or well Robert, but that's too formal for me." Mina told her sister. Nina giggled and nodded. "We'll have a movie night on Saturday night though, I promise. I can tell you everything about the date then." Mina told her. Nina giggled and nodded happily.

"Well, we should be getting to bed." Nina said to her as she saw her sister yawn. Mina nodded and got up from her stool. She walked Nina to the door, opening the door for her sister. The two hugged before parting ways for the night. Mina shut the door after a second and crawled into bed. She was still upset over what Patricia had said, but she was excited about her date with Robby too. Something about what Patricia had said though bothered her. Why had she suggested that she and Jerome were gonna be a thing? Surely she was just trying to get under her skin, right? There was nothing there between her and Jerome, not at all. Right?


	7. Sister To Sister Talk

Thanks for the reviews! In case some of you missed it I reposted chapter 5 & 6 not a big difference in 5 just an extra scene.

I do not own anything in this, besides Mina, everything else belongs to their rightful owners.

Chapter 7

The next day was going to be a horror show, Mina could feel it in her gut. She followed Patricia, Jerome, and Alfie into their history class. Patricia was going on about Joy still not calling her back. "I'm sure that her voice box is just full from all of the messages that she probably has." Mina cut Jerome off from saying something mean to Patricia. As much as she disliked the girl, she could understand the worry that she must be going through.

Patricia looked back at her and gave her a puzzled look as she sat down in her seat. Jerome and Alfie chuckled over something one of them had said to the other as they took their seats in the back. Mina took the seat in front of Jerome, which she was pleased to see was next to Mara.

"All the world's a stage." They all jumped and spun around to see a rather cute looking young man behind them. All of the girl's bit their lips. The guys looked around and saw that all the girls in the room had their attention focused on this guy. "Hey. My name is Jason Winkler, and I'm your new history teacher. I'll also be teaching drama." He said as he got up from his seat in the way back.

"You're Mr. Flemming's replacement?" Mara asked him, hoping that he wasn't just a substitute.

"Yeah, that's right." He said with a smile to Mara. He looked around nervously to see that he had all of the girls in the room's attention. At least he had their attention, he thought as he walked up to the front of the room.

"Wow, I am so please he had a heart attack." Amber said out loud on accident. The room erupted into laughter, causing Amber to blush madly. Had she really just said that out loud? "Sorry. That didn't come out right." Amber said, shrugging as she bit her lip, smiling up at their new teacher.

Mina was at her locker. Her class had been let out a few minutes early. Sadly she didn't have the class with Nina or Fabian so they were still in class. She was trying to reach something in her locker, but apparently the world was going to be mean to her today. Her sweater had shrunk in the wash, and since it had been already the perfect size, now it was a tad bit too tight on her. Every time that she reached up for her book, her shirt would go up at well.

"Would you like a hand, luv?" She jumped and spun around to face who ever had come up behind her. She smiled brightly when she saw that it was just Robby and nodded. He chuckled and got her book without difficulty. "Here we go." He said to her as he handed her the book.

"Thanks, Robby. What are you doing out of class?" She asked him as they headed in the direction of her next class. She saw the look that he was giving her and gave him an innocent shrug. "My teacher let us out early." She told him. He nodded to her.

"Study hall." He said to her with a shrug. She nodded, mumbling a quick 'thanks' as he held a door open for her. "Biology, right luv?" He asked her as they turned down the hall. She nodded as they stopped at the right door. "Well, here we are." He smiled as he leaned against the door way. Mina blushed as how close he was to her, and the fact that he kept looking at her lips.

"Here I am. Thanks for walking me here, Robby." Mina said shyly to him. He chuckled, loving her shyness. They just stared at each other for a moment. He was about to lean in to kiss her when she was suddenly pulled inside the room and his lips met air. "Jerome!" She shouted out when she saw that it was him that had pulled her inside of the room and ruined her chance of getting kissed by her own boyfriend.

"Sorry, mate. This lovely lady needs to focus more on this class. Maybe you should be off so you don't distract her, eh?" Jerome said to him as he waved Robby off and blocked his view of Mina, whom just popped her head around Jerome's side. Robby just glared at Jerome, not moving an inch from where he stood.

"I'll text you." She told him, patting her bag to tell him that she had her phone on her. Jerome rolled his eyes, she was not making this easy for him. Which, he guessed was a good thing. If she made it easy for him, she wouldn't be Mina. Though he could deal without the extra competition.

"Ah, but you don't want to distract him from his chemistry class, now do you luv?" Jerome said to her as he pushed her toward her table with Fabian and Nina. She noticed how Robby had tensed up and saw that it was Jerome talking about chemistry that had done it. What, did Jerome have something on every boy that asked her out?

"See you, babes!" Robby was gone before she could utter another word to him. She turned on Jerome and swatted his arm. This was becoming a bad habit with her, he decided. He chuckled at the glare that she was giving him. If anything she was only cuter when she was mad, especially when she was mad at him.

"Your jerk! He better not cancel on me now because of what ever you have over him, what ever that is anyways." Mina told him, poking him in the chest with every word she said. He grabbed her wrist quickly, stopping her from poking him again. Her pokes actually really hurt.

"Easy there. Enough with the poking, okay? Besides, I'm in charge of your task, you might want to be nicer to me or I might have you do something that you really don't want to do." Jerome whispered to her, pulling her closer to him so no one heard her. "Besides, what happened to you and Fabian? Does he know that other boys are trying to snog with you?" Jerome asked her, a hint of a smirk on his expression.

"Fabian and I . . ."

"Mina and I are perfectly fine, thank you very much Jerome. She's far too trusting for her own good, isn't she? Some of the boys at this school are real twits, aren't they Jerome? Thanks for stepping in. Now, if you will excuse us, Mina and I should take out seats." Fabian quickly stepped in, pulling Mina out of Jerome's hold and pulling her over to his and Nina's table. Fabian held out her seat for her and pushed it in once she was seated.

"Thanks, Fabian, but I think Jerome already scared my date off. What does he have on every guy here that scares them so much?" Mina asked him as she got out her notebook, pen, and book. Nina was wondering the same thing. She had seen Jerome giving kids folders almost every day and getting paid by said kids.

"It's a long story, and if he's too afraid of Jerome, then he wasn't worth your time at all." Fabian said to her as he pulled her into a one armed hug. Nina looked over at Patricia's table to see that Jerome was glaring at the back of Fabian's head.

"You guys, Jerome . . . he doesn't think that you two are, you know, together? Does he?" Nina whispered to them. Mina and Fabian shared a look and chuckled, which gave Nina her own answer. "Oh, now that's just mean. You two don't actually . . ." She trailed off, motioning her hand between the two as to finish her question, silently asking them if something was really going on.

"Oh, no. Fabian, I love you already . . . just not like that." Mina whispered the last part, giggling when she heard a scoff from the back of the class room. Fabian glanced over his shoulder to see Jerome angrily flipping through the pages of his book. Fabian chuckled and opened his own book.

"Oh, uh, I guess that's great then." Nina said to them as she opened her book. Mina smiled when she saw Nina biting her lip and smiling. She also saw Fabian glancing up at Nina every couple of minutes. It wasn't long before class started and the room went silent as Mr Sweet taught his lesson.

The class seemed to go on forever, Mina was bored out of her mind. She couldn't help but day dream, it was bound to happen in one of her classes. She was remembering when she bumped into Jerome. God, what would have happened if she had fallen for his stupid line? Would she already be just another name crossed off of his list of girls by now? Did he even have a list of girls? She doesn't actually know him that well, she could have just assumed and gone with that.

"No!" She jumped out of her thoughts upon hearing Nina shouting and hurrying to hide something.

"I . . . I'm sorry, I was only making conversation." Fabian said to her, completely forgetting that he was in class for a moment. He had to wonder why she was hiding the necklace though. He glanced at Mina quickly to see that she was watching them confused.

"Mr. Rutter," Mina covered her mouth to hide her giggle as Fabian got scolded for talking. " . . . silence is golden." He said, glancing at Mina to mean that he meant her too. She took a breath and gave him an innocent smile.

"Mr. Sweet?" Patricia called out from her seat.

"Yes, Patricia?" He asked her, turning to look at her. Mina refused to turn to look at Patricia, since Jerome was on her side next to Patricia. Out of everything she could have day dreamed about, it was about when she met Jerome? What was going on in that head of her's?

"I've been meaning to ask you about the school's photo?" Patricia asked him. Mr. Sweet walked over to their table and leaned against it.

"I fail to see how that applies to Pow scow's law."

"But why has Joy been erased from the photo?" Patricia asked him, clearly upset about this.

"Uh oh. Crazy conspiracy alert." Alfie said, joking around like he was phoning it in.

"That is a ridiculous notion, Patricia." Mr. Sweet said as the bell rang. Finally, Mina thought to herself. "Just one moment, please. I have your last assignments here." Mr. Sweet said as he began to pass out the papers.

"Saved by the bell, they say." Patricia rolled her eyes as she got her stuff together. Mr. Sweet handed Mick his paper back first, surprised at how well he had done. Mina went up and got her own and went to put it in her bag. She finished putting her stuff together and was out of the door before anyone could stop her. She had to text Robby and see if they were still on or if Jerome ruined her weekend plans.

Fabian walked out of the room sadly, hurt that Nina had been rude to him. He had only meant to be nice to her. "Fabian, wait!" Nina called out after him. "I'm sorry if i acted weird before. You've been so nice to me, and, it was kind of . . ." Nina started, but didn't know what word to use.

"Rude?" Fabian finished for her.

"Well, I was gonna say snippy, but . . . yeah, okay rude works too." She said to him, hoping that he didn't hate her too now.

"It's okay. Look, you're not going to seriously go through with initiation nonsense, are you?" Fabian asked her, but the look on Nina's face gave him his own answer. She was so going to go through with it. "You don't have to, you know." He said, hoping that she would listen to him, but when has anyone done that before?

"Yeah I do. I'll never live it down if they think I'm scared. Besides, at least what I have to do is easy. Jerome's the one that planning Mina's thing. Now that, that I'm scared for her." Nina laughed to him. Fabian nodded and laughed with her.

"You are tougher than you look, and so is Mina if she survives Jerome." Fabian laughed to her.

"Only if you means doing absolutely anything to survive the dangerous world of evil boarding schools." Nina said them as they laughed and headed on their way toward their next class together.

"I can't believe that . . that . . . that jerk! I mean, really Nina? Robby was about to kiss me! No though, Jerome can't have that. He has to pull me inside of the room before Robby can kiss me." Mina ranted on to her sister as she paced back and forth around her room. Nina covered her mouth, shaking her head as she bit back her laughter. She hasn't seen Mina this worked up over a guy since seventh grade when she got asked out for the first time. That was minor to this right now though.

Mina had dragged Nina back to the house for lunch so they could have one of their sister to sister talks. Their lunch was surprisingly longer than the American lunches back home, and for that they were grateful. They could talk with out feeling like they had such a small time frame to do it.

"So, who are you upset about? Jerome? Or not being able to kiss this Robby guy, who I have yet to meet by the way. At least I know who Jerome is." Nina said after a moment. She had lost who Mina was upset about.

"Jerome, Nina, Jerome. You'll meet Robby soon, I just need to make sure Jerome didn't ruin everything." Mina said as she stood still for more than five seconds. "I still can't believe that I have to live with him! I mean, if it was only during classes that I had to see him, that would be tolerable. No! I have to live with the guy, Nina. God, he gets me so . . . so . . . so errrr!" Mina said as she through a shirt at a laughing Nina, hitting her square in the face. "This is soo not funny, Nina." Mina said to her laughing sister.

"Actually, yeah it kind of is. I mean, this is Jerome we're talking about here. You are soo crushing on him! Boyfriend or not, Min, you got it bad for Jerome." Nina said as she laughed away. Mina blushed, but kept her glare firm on Nina. She did not like Jerome, that was completely insane!

"I do not like Jerome. I'll admit, he's pretty cute for a immature, selfish, jerk face, but that's besides the point. I've got a boyfriend, and Jerome's just a room mate I have to deal with. There is no crushing going on between these two house mates. Though, I can't say the same for another two house mates I know." Mina gave Nina a knowing look.

"I have no idea what you're talking about, Min." Nina said, giving Mina the clueless look that Mina's seen so many times before, the same look that she's given people herself.

"Oh, don't give me that look. I'm your sister, I know when you're lying. So spill. What's going on with you and Fabian? You guys are all hush hush whisper when I see you guys, and not to mention that you two are always alone together." Mina said as she hopped onto her bed in front of Nina.

"We are not _always_ together."

"Uh, yeah. You are. At least tell me that you like him." Mina wished that Nina would tell her what's going on. Lately she's been keeping things from her and Mina hated it. They use to be so close, but lately it's all been secret this and secret that. She had a gut feeling that those secrets were just going to keep coming and getting bigger.

"Okay, fine. I do like Fabian, but he only wants to be friends." Nina told her sister, but Mina wasn't buying it. Nina had a tendency to think she knows what other people are thinking when it isn't what they are thinking at all.

"Did Fabian tell you that he only wanted to be friends, or do you think he just wants to be friends? There's a difference between the two, Nina. One's for real and one's just in your head." Mina pointed out to her sister. Nina rolled her eyes at Mina, giving her the answer to her own question. "Thought so. You really need to get with the times and be a woman, Nina. Don't wait for Fabian to do the asking, cause he's too shy. I love him like a brother, but it's true." Mina said with a small giggle to her sister. Nina blushed and looked away from her sister. Her eyes caught the time.

"We have to go, like now, Min. We have ten minutes to get back to school and get to drama class." Nina said as she jumped off of the bed and grabbed her bag. She saw that Mina hadn't moved and rolled her eyes. She grabbed Mina's hand and practically dragged her back to school to get to class.


	8. The Zombies Are Coming!

Thanks for the reviews! I do not own anything in this besides Mina! Everything else belongs to their rightful owners!

Chapter 8

Alfie stood in the front of the drama room trying to center himself. Without a seconds notice he was buzzing around the room, running all over the place. The room exploded with laughter. Mina giggled, hiding her smile as Alfie flew passed her. He accidentally bumped into Amber's chair, interrupting her reading of her magazine. "Thanks, Alfie. Some of us are here to learn." Amber said as she hit him with magazine before opening it again to continue reading. Alfie just continued buzzing around.

"And what exactly are you suppose to be, Alfie?" Mr. Winkler asked Alfie. Alfie looked at him as if he had asked him one of the stupidest questions ever. Wasn't it obvious as to what he was?

"Mosquito in a spin driver, isn't it obvious?" Alfie laughed out. The room filled with laughter once again.

"Now, for something a little more serious. Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet." Mr. Winkler said to the room before starting to pass out the books. "Timeless." He said as he passed one to Jerome and Mina next to him. The two shared a quick look before turning to flip through their own books. "Tragic. Tedious." He said as he passed one to Fabian.

"See, I knew that I was right. There's an article in here that says that if your boyfriend isn't paying you enough attention. You have to flirt with someone else to make him jealous." Amber whispered to Nina as Mr. Winkler came up behind them.

"Swap. Please, Amber." He said as he held out a book for her.

"Do I have to, sir?" She asked him, giving him an innocent smile. He just shook his head as he took her magazine and handed her a book. He passed one over to Nina and moved on down the room. Nina looked over at her sister to see that she was looking through her own book. She noticed that Jerome next to her was sneaking glances at Mina as he read through his own book.

"You know if we act this out, we should do the party scene." Jerome said to her out of no where. Mina looked at him confused. Since when were they going to be partners, let alone be doing what she knew for a fact was a kissing scene. "Ol' Fabian won't mind much. It's just acting after all." Jerome knew that she would have no excuse this time.

"And who said that I was going to be your partner?" Mina asked him, giving him a curious look. Jerome just shrugged and got up from his seat, pulling her up with him. He motioned around the room to show her that everyone was pairing up already. Though Amber didn't really get a choice in who she was paired with, which was none other than Alfie.

"Mina and Jerome, sit please. Amber and Alfie, you're up first." Mr. Winkler said out to the four teens. Amber and Mina both groaned, both in annoyance for their own reasons. Jerome and Alfie shared a look, both grinning as they looked at the girls by their sides. Jerome sat back down, pulling Mina down with him. Alfie pulled Amber up on stage and got ready to begin.

"O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo? Deny thy father and refuse thy name; Or if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love. And I'll no longer be a Capulet." Amber read from her book with no emotion at all. She would have preferred to be doing this with Mick, not with Alfie.

"Shall I hear more, or shall I speak at this?" Alfie said out, projecting his voice a little too loudly. Jerome chuckled, motioning for Alfie to tone it down a bit. Alfie nodded and motioned him back a thumbs up.

"'Tis but thy name that is my enemy:Thou art thyself, though not . . ." Amber paused, glancing at Mich to see that he wasn't paying attention to her at all. "Though not . . . truly the yummiest boy I've ever seen, Romeo." Amber thought quick, glancing at Mick to see that he was now paying attention to her.

"What? That's not in the script, Amber." Alfie squeaked out, confused on where she was going with all of this. Amber dropped her book to the floor and grabbed Alfie's shoulders, planting a kiss on his lips. The whole room had mixed reactions. Nina and Mara's jaw had dropped, as well as Mina's as she tugged on Jerome's sweater. Jerome coughed, trying to cover up his laughter. Mick felt as if his heart had dropped to the bottom of his stomach.

Amber pulled back, her eyes on Mick the whole time. Alfie was on cloud nine, staring up into space with a dazed look on his face. Mina looked back to see that Mick was heart broken. Her heart broke just looking at him. "Wow." Jerome broke the silence, not believing what had just happened. "Ow!" He shouted out when Mina hit his arm. He looked back at her to see her glaring at him. Mick's expression soon turned to anger. He was so going to hurt Alfie.

Later that night at the House of Anubis, it was almost time for Nina's initiation. They had originally ordered Mina to stay down stairs, since they didn't want her to interfere with it, but she wouldn't let them keep her away. She had swore that she wouldn't do anything to ruin it though. Fabian was to stay with her in the hall while Jerome, Patricia, and Alfie got Nina in her room.

"Are you, Nina Martin?" Patricia asked Nina, shining her flash light in Nina's face. Jerome and Alfie stood behind her, holding their flash lights to Nina's face as well.

"Yes." Nina said, not believing that Patricia was asking her stupid questions.

"Is there anyone here who can confirm this?" Patricia asked her, trying to be as serious as she could about this. Nina looked at her, was she really asking her that? She may look like Mina, and almost had the same name as Mina, but obviously they all could tell the difference between the two.

"Me? And Mina." Nina said to them after a moment.

"Are you for real?" Alfie asked her, but Patricia just shushed him. Jerome chuckled, not believing that Patricia was asking such stupid questions, and that Nina was playing along. Their faces soon became serious again, or as serious as Jerome and Alfie could be.

"Nina Martin, you are here to prove you are brave enough to live at Anubis house. Swear on your graves of all your ancestors that you will never, ever, tell a living soul about tonight." Patricia says to her, the three taking a step closer to Nina so that they were in her face now.

"I swear." Nina said to them completely serious. They nodded and lead the way to the door. Patricia led the way out with Nina right behind her. Jerome and Alfie were following behind them. In the hallway were Amber, Mara, Fabian, and Mina. Nina and Mina were the only ones without a flash light. Fabian stood by the window in between Amber and Mina. Mara stood by herself on the opposite side of them.

"Where's Mick?" Amber asked Fabian, causing him to jump as he turned to look at her. Mick was the only one not present for this.

"He didn't want to come, tired or something." Fabian told her with a shrug. Patricia shushed him, not wanting him or anyone else to ruin this for her. If Victor woke up and found them all, they were all as good as dead.

"Oh spirits of Anubis house, guide the new girl . . ." Patricia was interrupted by Mina's cough. She rolled her eyes at Mina. " . . . the _eldest_ new girl, on her initiation quest, and keep her from harm in the haunted attic." Patricia continued on, trying to scare Nina more than she already was.

"Come on, this is ridiculous." Fabian spoke up, causing Patricia to shush him again. He moved back to his original spot, now silent. Mina rolled her eyes at Patricia, but had to agree on one thing. They really needed to stay quiet so that they didn't wake up Victor.

"Unlock, the door." Patricia told Nina. She nodded, determined as she moved on toward the attic door. The others watched as she walked passed them to the door. Mina's eyes lingered on Patricia for a moment before looking to watch as Nina unlocked the attic door. Something bad was going to happen. She could feel it in her gut. She just hoped that she was wrong.

"I just have to go up there and bring something back, and then I'm done? You . . . you guys didn't booby trap the place or anything, did you?" Nina asked them, wanting to make sure before she opened the door. Mina studied Jerome and Alfie's facial expression to see that this was all that they knew was going to happen, though looking at Patricia, Mina got the bad feeling in her gut.

"Course not. Go." Patricia said to Nina. Fabian looked down at Mina and saw that she mirrored a similar expression as him. They slowly turned their attention to Nina as she unlocked the door and slowly opened it, wincing at the creaking noise from the door. Nina took a deep breath, glancing back at Mina quickly before she stepped inside.

They all leaned in to see the inside, watching as Nina slowly made her way up the first few steps. She looked back nervously to see them all watching her. Without a moments notice, Patricia hurried to shut the door. "Wait. Wait. Wait." Fabian started to say.

"What are you doing?" Amber asked her as she saw Patricia shut the door. Inside Nina hurried back the stairs to the door. Outside Mina was about to go grab the key from Patricia, but an arm wrapped itself around her waist, lifting her up from the floor, stopping her from going anywhere. She looked up to see that it was Jerome holding her.

"Jerome! Let me go!" She hissed out at him, struggling to be let go of, but her efforts were useless against Jerome. Jerome's grip on her was tight, and she couldn't break free even if she wanted to, which she really did.

"What does it look like?" Patricia whispered to Amber as she locked the door and took out the key.

"Hey! Wh . . what . . . what's going on?" Nina asked out to the others as she tried jiggling the knob. "Let me out." Nina asked out to them. Mina didn't stop struggling against Jerome's hold on her, but he wasn't backing off any time soon. She looked to Fabian to help her, but Fabian was too worried about getting the key from Patricia to help her out with Jerome.

"Y . . you heard her. Let her out." Fabian said to Patricia, obviously worried about Nina being stuck in the attic.

"Not until you tell us what you know about Joy's disappearance." Patricia was as determined as ever. Mina paused in her struggles and looked at Patricia as if she was crazy. This was what all of this was about? She's keeping her sister locked in the attic because she still thinks that Nina had something to do with her friend leaving, just because she got unlucky and was roomed with her? Unbelievable!

"I don't know anything!" Nina shouted out from the other side of the door.

"Then, you'll have to stay in there til morning." Patricia said to her, completely serious about this as she pocketed the key. Mina looked up at Jerome, even lifted up a small height he still was taller than her, and then over at Alfie to see them as confused as everyone else. It seems that they weren't as in on plan as they thought they were.

"Alright, Patricia. You've had your fun. Now, please just unlock the door." Fabian pleaded with Patricia. Jerome slowly let Mina drop to the floor, but still kept her in his hold so she didn't go after Patricia and wake up Victor in doing it.

"Yeah, Patricia. This is getting silly." Mara spoke up for the first time tonight.

"Who's side are on?" Patricia hissed at her, not believing that Mara was siding with the newbie and not her on this. They jumped as the jiggling of the door knob became louder. Nina really wanted to be let out, and who would blame her. It was creepy in there.

"Just let her out, Patricia." Mina hissed out in a whisper to Patricia, pulling on Jerome's grip around her waist.

"No. Now last chance, newbie. What can you tell me about Joy?" Patricia wasn't going to let this go though. She was dead set on Nina having something to do with her friend suddenly leaving.

"Nothing! I know nothing!" Nina shouted out to them. Mina felt her heart ripping upon hearing Nina. She sounded as if she was going to cry at any second. She struggled against Jerome more, but still nothing. He wasn't letting her go unless he wanted to this time.

"You're not really going to leave her in there all night, are you?" Fabian continued to plead with Patricia. He could tell by the expression on Patricia's face though that that was exactly what Patricia was planning to do.

"Let me out!" Nina screamed out, now starting to bang on the door.

"Stop banging." Patricia told her, afraid that she would wake Victor up with all of the banging.

"Hey! Let me out! There . . . there's something up there!" Nina was completely freaking out now. Mina struggled harder, just wanting to get Nina out of there already. She couldn't let anything happen to Nina, not her. Flashes of a screaming woman echoed through her head, memories that she's rather not remember. Jerome felt Mina tense up against him and felt her shiver. He now almost felt bad for helping Patricia with this. Almost.

"Open the door." Amber whispered to Patricia.

"The zombies are coming." Alfie was now panicking. The group now was begging Patricia to hurry up. She looked like she was about to cave and let Nina out. Mina finally had enough with this and elbowed Jerome in the gut, causing him to groan in pain and let her go. She was about to take the key from Patricia when she froze where she stood.

"What is all this noise?" They all went silent when Victor came around the corner, flashing his flashlight around the group. Jerome hold onto his stomach in pain, but was standing up straight again. Victor flipped on the light switch after a second. "What's going on?" Victor asked them. "Why are you all out of bed? Hmm?" He asked them as he walked down the middle of the group, flashing the light in all of their faces. Jerome quickly moved Mina out of the way before Victor could get close to her and terrify her any more than she already was going to.

"Ni . . " Mina started to say but Jerome quickly motioned her to stay silent as Victor got to the attic door. What if he found Nina in there? She'd be dead meat if he did. If she's smart she's not by the stairs right now. At least she hoped that Nina was quick enough to realize that before Victor opened the door.

"Were you trying to break this door down?" Victor asked the blond girl, flashing his light right into Amber's face. Mina's heart went out to Amber at the moment. No matter what had happened earlier in school. No one deserved to be in Victor's spot light.

"No, we . . . thought we heard . . mice." Mina quickly covered, glancing at the others in hopes that they went along with her lie, which thank the heavens they did. "That's all." Mina gave his an innocent smile and shrugged. Jerome stood behind her, wishing that she hadn't turned the spotlight on herself and let Patricia think of something. He looked at them all curiously, stopping on a frightened Mara.

"Get. To. Bed. Now." He ordered them all. Jerome knew that Mina was going to protest, so he just picked her right up by the waist and carried her off before she could. The rest of the others scattered, Alfie actually going to the wrong way. "Before I put you all in detention." He told them as he watched them run around. Victor waited a moment, watching as Alfie passed by him again, this time going the right way down stairs and to his room. Once he was sure that they were all gone, he turned and unlocked the door, stepping inside and closing the door behind him before going up the stair case to the attic.

The door to Mina's room opened and Jerome came in carrying Mina in one of his arms. "Jerome, can you please just put me down now? I can walk, you know." She felt like such a baby with him carrying her like this. He didn't listen to her until he shut the door and got over to her bed, letting her drop with a bounce on top of it.

"God, and I thought Patricia was bad with the gratitude." Jerome muttered to himself. Mina needed to make sure that Nina was okay. She saw that Jerome wasn't paying attention to her and made a run for the door. "Oh, no you don't." He said as he grabbed her around the waist, spinning them around as he did, and dropping her back down on the bed.

"Jerome!" She growled out at him. She didn't try to run again though, she knew that it would only lead to another spinning drop. "I need to make sure that Nina's okay. What if Victor finds her?" Mina was trying to get Jerome to understand. He did understand though. She was worried about Nina, and that was pretty understandable after what just happened. He wasn't about to risk her getting in more trouble though.

"And if Victor hasn't found her? You'll only make it worst if you go back up there, sorry to say my dear. Nina, and you, are better off if you stay down here and away from that attic." Jerome said to her, wishing that she would just stop being stubborn for one second and actually listen to him. She narrowed her eyes at him, glaring at him for a long time. As much as she hated to admit it, Jerome was right.

If she went up there and got caught again by Victor, and he was Nina-less, she'd get them both screwed. She huffed and shifted away from him. Jerome sighed, knowing that meant that she understood what he had told her. He still felt a pang in his chest, something that he's never felt before. Was that guilt? Was it guilt over playing a part in Patricia locking Nina in the attic? No way!

"I, uh, should be off. I'll see you in the morning at breakfast." Jerome shifted from one foot to the other awkwardly before hurrying out of the room and heading off toward his and Alfie's room for the rest of the night. Mina looked at her closed door, wishing that Jerome had been wrong. Why had he left her alone? Now she's alone and doesn't have anyone to stop her from doing anything stupid. Like going back upstairs for example.

Six minutes had passed by and Mina was getting antsy. There was no yelling yet, so she prayed that that was a good sign. She had changed into her pajama, and tried to read a little, but it didn't help at all. She couldn't sit still at all, and she couldn't even think of sleeping with knowing that Nina might be locked in the attic for the whole night. She couldn't help but thinking of how dusty and cold it must be up there, and not to mention creepy. Hadn't Amber said that it was haunted too?

It was another four minutes before she cracked. She didn't think twice about her appearance before running right out her room and right into someone. She yelped out as they went crashing to the floor. She was lucky not to be the one to land on the hard ground though. She rubbed her head as she heard a familiar groan.

"Fabian?" She whispered out to him, opening her eyes to see if she could see if it was really him. "Fabian! What are you doing? I thought that you already went to bed?" Mina's voice was, unknowingly, getting louder by the question. He quickly shushed her, not wanting to risk making to much noise. He quickly got to his feet, pulling her up with him, and pulled her into her room, shutting the door behind them.

"I, um, hid in one of the rooms up there." Fabian whispered to her. Mina was glad that he didn't get in more trouble since he actually stayed up there. That had to make her wonder if Nina made it out too though.

"I'm glad that you didn't get caught and all, but what about Nina? Did Victor find her? Is she still locked up there? God, Fabian, if she's still up there I have to go and get her. I'll wrestle Patricia for the key if I have to, but I can't let her stay trapped up there all night." Mina was getting ahead of herself. She was so nervous that she couldn't sit still. She went to leave the room, but Fabian grabbed her wrist, pulling her to a stop.

"Victor didn't find her, Mina. She some how hid good enough up there. She used a . . . a hair clip to pick the lock. Patricia has thrown the key out of the window and into the bushes below. We can't go looking for it until morning. She's safe though. She's in her room probably going to sleep as we speak." Fabian whispered to her, hoping that this would stop Mina from going back upstairs. Mina let out a breath, relieved that Nina was alright.

"Thank god, Fabian. I don't know what I would have done if something had happened to her. I . . I don't . . ." Mina trailed off as Fabian pulled her into a hug. He had seen how scared she was when she heard Nina screaming. She looked like she was going to scream herself.

"Nina's fine now, Mina. It was just some stupid thing Patricia, Alfie, and Jerome thought would be fun." Fabian whispered to her as he held onto her. Mina shook her head though as that, pulling back far enough to look up at him.

"I don't think that Alfie and Jerome knew that she was gonna lock Nina in there, Fabian. They were just as shocked as the rest of us." Mina whispered to him, hoping that he would believe her. She was certain that Jerome and Alfie didn't know about that part of Patricia's plan. She had seen their faces when she had done it. They were as shocked as everyone else when Patricia pulled that stunt of hers.

"Maybe not, but they were right next to her. They could have taken the key, or Jerome could have let you go and let you get it from her." Fabian whispered to her as he finally let her go completely. Mina knew that he was right, but she just didn't care. Nina was alright, and that was all that mattered.

"You should probably go back to your room. Besides, I'm beat after tonight and we have classes tomorrow." Mina whispered to him as they walked toward her door. Fabian nodded as he went to leave. "Night, Fabian." She whispered to him as he left the room. He waved to her good night as he headed off to his room. Once he was out of sight she quietly closed her door and hopped into her bed, sleep taking over the second that her head hit the pillow.


	9. Eyes On The Face

Thanks for all of the reviews! I do not own anything in this story, besides Mina of couse! Enjoy!

Chapter 9

The next morning Mina woke up in a fog. It took her a minute to remember what had happened the night before. When she finally remembered, she shot up out of her bed. "Nina!" She gasped out as she jumped out of her bed and quickly got ready for classes. She ran a brush through her hair quickly and applied a small amount of make up before hurrying out of her room and up to Nina's room.

"Nina! Open up!" She shouted out as she got to the door, knocking as quickly as she could. She didn't care if Patricia was inside and she woke her up. She deserved all that she got after the stunt she had pulled last night. After a minute the door opened to reveal a smiling Nina, whom was already ready to go for the day. They girls smiled before embracing each other in a tight hug.

"I'm alright. Victor didn't find me. I guess that I'm better at hiding than I thought." Nina told her sister as she held onto her. She could only image what it was like for her having to hear Nina screaming to be let out, then to not know if she was alright for the rest of the night.

"Fabian told me last night. I'm so happy to see that you're alright on my own though." Mina told her when the two finally pulled away from their hug. "Are you ready to go down stairs?" She asked her sister when she noticed that Nina looked as if she was about to leave the room. She nodded and the two girls headed down for breakfast.

They came down into the dining room as Jerome and Alfie came in from the kitchen. Mina giggled when Nina popped up next to them. The two and Fabian gave her a small round of applause, causing her to beam in excitement. Mina giggled and shook her head as she came more into the room.

"We were certain Victor was going to get you." Jerome said to Nina as she sat down on Fabian's right. He glanced at Mina as he took two muffins. He tossed one to her before going to sit down.

"Yeah, either Victor, or the flesh eating zombies." Alfie laughed out, causing Nina to giggle with him.

"No zombies, mostly rat bones." Nina told him. Fabian chuckled to himself. Jerome took the seat next to Mina and took a bite out of his muffin. Mina just giggled at her sister, shaking her head. How could she act like it was no big deal? She would have thought that it would have been terrifying.

"Cool." Alfie said as he grabbed a muffin and went to sit down. Patricia glared at Nina from across the table, clearly not happy with the fact that Nina had gotten out of the attic not found and in the clear of getting in trouble.

"What it really scary up there?" Mara asked her. Mina and the others looked at her to see her reaction.

"I thought it would be worse. It was actually kind of cool. I might move up there." Nina said to them all happily with a shrug. Mina knew that Nina was only trying to act brave, but she knew that Nina had to have been scared out of mind up in the attic, not like she'd tell the others that though. She glanced at Fabian to see him chuckling, she knew then that Fabian knew Nina's secret as well.

"Don't you think she was brave?" Amber asked around the table.

"Even you have to admit, Patricia, Nina passed her initiation test with flying colors." Fabian said to the other girl at the other end of the table as he took a bite out of his toast. Patricia was no pleased at all, far from it actually. Her plan had back fired on her, and now Nina was just more popular than she had been before.

"No. She didn't bring anything back, did she?" Patricia said bitterly to Fabian and Nina, hoping that she had caught Nina up on this.

"Well, actually." Nina said as she reached inside of her bag to grab something inside of it. They all watched as she pulled out an old dusty book. Jerome laughed in shock upon seeing it, as did Alfie. Mina smiled, proud of her sister for showing up Patricia. Patricia wiped her hands and hurried to storm out of the room.

"Patricia, wait." Mara quickly left to follow after her. The table quieted down as the two left. Nina's smile soon faded. She hadn't wanted to hurt Patricia, she just wanted to have her not hate her any more.

"She's come around, I'm sure of it." Fabian whispered to her upon seeing her frown. Amber nodded in agreement, hoping that Fabian was in fact right about that. Nina shrugged sadly as she took a bite out of her muffin. The rest of breakfast was eaten in silence, except for Jerome and Alfie's bickering every few minutes.

Mina and Nina were on their way to class when they heard their names being shouted out from behind them. They looked behind them to see that it was Fabian running to try and catch up with them. "I just wanted to ask you both if you didn't mind if I, um . . . uh . . . would you both fancy walking on with me?" He asked them. The girls shared a look and smiled back at him.

"Yeah, okay sure. We would 'fancy' that." Nina laughed out, liking the new word as much as Mina had when Fabian first said it to her. They three laughed as they walked along. "Sorry, this all just takes some getting use to." Nina laughed as Fabian glanced at the bushes, darting off toward them. Nina and Mina shared a confused look when they saw him digging through the bushes.

"But, this is weird even for England." Mina pointed out as they watched him curiously. What was he doing?

"No. No, wait. I'm just looking for something." Fabian told them as he looked for something inside of the bushes.

"That much I got. What are you looking for?" Nina said to him still confused on what exactly Fabian was looking for. It then occurred then to Mina what Fabian was looking for. He was looking for the attic key. Fabian had told her last night that Patricia had thrown it of the window and into the bushes.

"Wait, hold on. Hold on."

"We're hanging." Mina laughed to him. They heard shouting coming from behind them as Alfie and Jerome ran pass them. She saw that Alfie was holding something in his hand, her eyes going wide when saw what it was. "Is that my . . . Alfie!" Mina shouted out before running after them. "I'll see you guys later!" She shouted back to Nina as she joined in the chase after Alfie.

"Yes!" Fabian shouted out, returning Nina's attention back to him. He hurried to his feet and jogged back over to Nina. "I got it." He said as he held up the spare key to the attic. He noticed that it was just Nina waiting for him now and got confused. "Where's Mina?" He asked her. Nina giggled as she reached up and pulled a leaf out from behind his ear.

"Unless you wanted that there? Jerome and Alfie ran by, I think Alfie had something of hers, so she joined Jerome in the chase after him." Nina laughed to him, looking over at the direction that they had run off in. The two started their walk toward the school again.

"I think that this needs to find it's way back into Victor's key box before it's missed." Fabian told her as they walked along the path. Nina took it from him before he could hide it in his pocket though.

"No. Actually, because I'm going to need this when I go back into the attic." Nina told him as she put it in her school bag. Fabian stopped walking, not believing what she had just said to him.

"What? You're going back up into the attic?" He asked her confused. Why would she want to go back up there? Hadn't she told him that she was terrified the last time that she was up there?

"It didn't sound so crazy until I said it out loud." Nina said to him with a nervous laugh as they began walking again.

"Why would you risk getting caught again? Do you know how freaked out Mina was last night when she thought Victor had caught you?" Fabian asked her. Nina bit her lip. She had a guess on how scared Mina must have been. She hated to put Mina through that, but this was something she had to do, or at least something she thought she had to do.

"Even though I was terrified when I was up there, it was the first time since I've been here that I wasn't thinking about Gran, or Mina, or even getting Patricia to like me. And . . and I just really need to know." Mina tried to get him to understand without actually telling him too much. She didn't know who she could trust, she didn't even know if she could trust Mina with this, or even if she wanted Mina involved with this at all.

"Need to know what?" Fabian asked her.

"If I saw someone up there."

"You saw someone?" Fabian asked her, pulling her to a stop.

"Okay, I know this might sound crazy, but . . . what if there really is something weird about Joy's disappearance? What if Joy's still here?" Mina waited a second for him to say something, but he didn't. He was beyond confused right now. She saw the expression on his face and knew that he was having a hard time believing her about this. "Yeah, you're probably right. Crazy." She said to him as she started to walk away. Fabian just shook his head and followed after her.

Alfie came laughing into the school, Jerome not very far behind him. "Alfie!" Mina shouted as she came jogging into the school, pushing passed Jerome to get to Alfie. "Alfie, you better give me my sketch book back." She was dead serious as she held out her hand for the book. Alfie looked at Jerome to see him stilling chuckling as he slipped on his shoes.

"Give it to me, Alfie." Jerome said to his friend as he held out his hand for the book as well. "Now." He said, trying his best to keep a straight face. Alfie chuckled as he gave it over to Jerome. Mina spun around on her heels, hand out stretched toward Jerome now. She liked her sketches to be private, just for her eyes and her eyes only. Not even Nina got to see them.

"Jerome, hand it over." She told him, the look in her eyes showing that she was beyond serious about this. Jerome tilted his head at her. He towered over her small height and that amused him.

"You didn't say please." He teased her, keeping her sketch book out of her reach. She moved her hands to her hips and glared at him. He just smirked and stared down at her.

"Jerome . . . please, just give it back." She said with a sigh. Jerome appeared to be thinking about it for a moment. "Jerome, I said please. Now give it back to me." Mina was tired of playing around. Jerome chuckled as he held up his hands in surrender and gave her the book. "Thank you, Jerome. Now, I gotta go. Bye Alfie." Mina gave Alfie a little wave before leaving to go to her locker before heading to class. Jerome stared after her with a grin. Alfie looked back and forth between Mina's retreating form and a grinning Jerome. Did he miss something?

"Four step plan?" Alfie asked him. Jerome grinned and shrugged innocently, even though they both knew that he was anything but innocent.

"Okay, I've been thinking. You should be doing something for Amber. You know, something romantic. She made the first move with that kiss, now you need to follow it up with a few moves of your own." Jerome told him, changing the subject from him and Mina to Alfie and Amber. Alfie seemed to brighten up at the mention of Amber.

"You're right." Alfie said to him excitedly. "Like what?" He asked Jerome as his expression dropped, not actually knowing what he should do to impress Amber.

"Oh, the maestro's got a few tricks up his sleeve." Jerome told him as they started heading to their lockers.

"Who's the maestro?" Alfie asked him, completely serious as he looked at Jerome for an answer. Jerome gave him a quick look.

"Me. I'm the maestro."

"Oh, okay. You got to let me know when you're going to change names. I mean last week you were Captain Spaghetti." Alfie told him as they walked along. Jerome rolled his eyes at his friend and nodded. "So maestro, do you have any tricks up your sleeve for Mina?" Alfie asked him, wiggling his eye brows at his friend. Jerome gave him a curious look. Why was Alfie still on the idea of him and Mina? Yeah, she was hot, but she's rejected him countless of times. He couldn't help but keep trying though, which confused him the most.

"I've got something planned for Miss Mina, mate. She'll be getting her initiation task tonight after supper." Jerome told him, a small grin on his lips as he thought of what her task was going to be. Alfie chuckled, only imagining what Jerome would make Mina do.

"Hey, Mick." Mina looked up to see Mick completely ignoring Amber. Mick had every right to be mad at Amber after she kissed Alfie. He hadn't helped the currant situation though. He keeps asking Mara to help him. Lately they've always been in his room studying together, and it was driving Amber crazy. "He's still pretending to be jealous. He'll make a big jester scene to win me back. I know he will." Amber said as she sat down next to Mina. She looked at Amber with sympathy.

In front of them Fabian and Nina took their seat, deep into their conversation. "So, this palette? It just opened when you fell against it?" Fabian asked her, keeping his voice low so no one over heard him.

"Sort of." Nina told him, not sure if she should tell him everything. She hardly knew him, and she hadn't even told Mina any of this yet. She didn't even know if she wanted Mina involved. It was her job as the oldest to protect Mina, yet lately it's been Mina always protecting her.

"Sort of?" Fabian asked her, glancing around to make sure no one was listening to them. "What kind of answer is that?" He asked her, wishing that she would trust him with what ever was going on.

"Well, there's some other . . . things." Nina was trying to keep as vague as she could, but in all honestly? She didn't know what she saw. She was still all confused about what had happen and what she saw.

"You're a real girl of mystery, aren't you?" Fabian smiled as he took off his bag. "Look, if you're going up there again? Then I'm going with you. And that's all there is to it." Fabian told her, looking her in the eyes to make sure that she knew he was serious about this. She wanted to go back up to that attic, and he couldn't knowingly let her go up on his own.

"Wow. That was forceful." Nina said to him with a small smile, not knowing what she should think of Fabian. It was one thing to be nice to her when no one else was, but to willingly put his neck on the line for her? That was more than she thought she would ever get from anyone other than Mina.

"It was, wasn't it?" Fabian gave a nervous laugh, giving her a shy smile. "You can trust me, Nina. I promise." He told her completely honestly. She stared at him for a moment, smiling to herself when she saw that wasn't lying to her, or at least she hoped that he wasn't.

"Okay. Before you do anything drastic to prove your loyalty, I'll tell you." Nina gave a small laugh, smiling over at Fabian who had chuckled too. She glanced back at Mina to see that she was completely involved in a conversation with Amber, or well, Amber was in a complete conversation with Mina, she was doing all the talking and Mina was listening to her.

Later on, Mina was coming out of her afternoon shower. She always hated the smell that followed her after her classes. Nina thought that she was crazy, but she really didn't care what Nina thought on this matter. She liked feeling clean after school. Besides, everyone over flowed the shower at night, so she was left in peace when she takes her showers after classes.

She was on her way back to her room to go change into her day clothes when she passed by a smiling Alfie. She looked back at him and watched him walk around like he was on cloud nine. She shook her head laughing to herself as she turned back around. Only she walked into a wall it seemed. She yelped as she started to fall, but she was caught before she hit the floor.

"We have got to stop meeting like this." A familiar voice chuckled to her. She looked up to see that it was Jerome who had caught her from falling. She pieced together that she must have had walked into him when she wasn't watching where she was going. She rolled her eyes at him as he set her back up on her feet. She fixed her bath robe, making sure that nothing that wasn't meant for his eyes was showing.

"Thanks, and you're right. We have to stop meeting like that. You might not catch me one of these times and I could hurt myself." Mina laughed when she was sure that nothing was showing that she didn't want him to see. Jerome's eyes flicked over her apparence, a grin coming onto his lips when he saw what she was dressed in. He let out a whistle as he saw her uncovered legs. She instantly felt her face flush bright red.

"Though I don't mind the dress attire at all." Jerome told her, his eyes locked on below her neck. He found himself licking his lips unknowingly. Her jaw dropped to the floor. Why was she not surprised that he'd be looking at her like a piece of meat?

"Jerome, eyes up here." She told him, reaching up and taking a hold onto his jaw to move his face up so that he was looking at her face, and not below it. Big mistake on her part. By moving, her robe moved up more, revealing more leg for Jerome to see. His eyes found themselves looking back down again. She rolled her eyes and swatted his arm.

"Ow! Okay, eyes on face. Got it." Jerome chuckled to her as he rubbed his arm. He swears that one of these days that girl is going to give him a bruise. He smiled when he saw her giggling and a blush on her cheeks. He noticed that she was starting to shiver as well. "Well, as much as I would like to stay here, and believe me I do, I should be off." Jerome said to her, sticking his thumb in the direction Alfie had gone down. She giggled and smiled up at him.

"I should probably get changed. I don't want to bump into anyone else like this. Besides, my hair is drying as we speak. I need to brush it before it frizzes completely." Mina told him as they circled around each other both going off in their own direction. Jerome instantly thought that she meant Fabian. He gave her a weird look, trying to smile but she knew that it was fake. She didn't say anything to him about it though.

"Good day then, Miss Mina." He said to her with a forced smile before heading off toward where Alfie had gone. Mina watched him confused for a minute before she felt a small breeze. She shivered and left to go get dressed. Jerome glanced back to see that she was already walking away.

"You see. My plan totally worked after all. Mick wants to meet me in the laundry room tonight. I obviously made him wild with jealously, and now he wants to apologize his bad behavior with Mara and kiss and make up." Amber gushed as she dragged Nina, with Mina following behind them, into her room with her to show them the message on her bed. She hurried to her closet to start trying on dresses.

Mina looked at the message and couldn't help but think of Alfie's cloud nine expression earlier. Nina seemed to think that it was off as well, but didn't suspect Alfie at all. They shared a quick look, nodding in confirmation of their theory. "I'm sure that's true, if he's the one who sent the message." Nina said nervously to Amber, hoping that she wouldn't flip on her.

"Of course he is. Nina, sometimes I think you miss so much because you're an American. Mina, you as well." Amber said to them, holding up a dress to herself before tossing it onto her bed. Mina looked at Nina confused, for some reason it sounded like Amber wasn't talking about the same thing to Mina than she was to Nina. She decided not to question Amber on it right now though.

"What is this about, Jerome?" Mina asked him as he dragged her down the stairs. She and Nina had been helping Amber get ready for her date with Mick when he barged in and practically dragged her out of the room without a word. "Jerome!" She shouted out when he still didn't answer her. He just looked at her and chuckled to himself. It was starting to annoy her with being in the dark.

"Alfie has requested your help." Jerome finally told her, but of course it wasn't much to go on. What exactly did Alfie need her help with? Why had Jerome come to get her and not Alfie himself if he's the one asking for her help? They soon came up to Jerome and Alfie's room and went right in.

"Jerome, what does . . . Alfie!" She screamed when she turned around to see Alfie in just a towel. She quickly turned around and kept her eyes shut tightly. "Would one of you like to tell me why I'm here and why Alfie's in just a towel?" Mina demanded them for answers. She didn't dare open her eyes or even turn her head until they told her that Alfie was dressed. All she heard was Jerome's laughter though.

"That is why you're here. Little Alfie here has a date tonight and needs a girl's help, and since I'm not a girl, I can't help him. Though I did pick out a tux for him. Alfie would you go change so the poor girl doesn't go blind." Jerome was trying to not laugh at the situation, or Mina's expression at that. Alfie hurried out of the room to go get dressed in the bathroom. "It's safe now." Jerome chuckled upon seeing that Mina was still facing the wall with her eyes closed.

"Alfie, as in the one that just left the room, has a date tonight? With who? And why so late?" Mina asked Jerome a different question a mile a minute as she turned around to face him. He was sitting on his bed now watching her.

"Why, Amber of course. And it's so late because he doesn't want Mick to find out or Victor to ruin it." Jerome told her, chuckling when he saw her jaw drop. Her suspicions were right about the message on Amber's bed then. It was Alfie that left the message, not Mick. Amber's going to be so crushed.

"Amber thinks that it was Mick who wants to meet with her, not Alfie. He's gonna be so crushed, and so is she when she finds out that it wasn't Mick." Jerome saw that she was heading off to leave the room, most likely to find Amber or Alfie and tell them the truth, and jumped up from the bed. He quickly picked her up from off of the floor before she got to the door.

"Not so fast. This is romance in the making, Mina. Just let this run it's course. Poor Alfie will be crushed if Amber rejects him in front of everyone, and you know she will do that, even if she doesn't mean to." Jerome told her as he kept his grip on her. Mina glared up at him, but sighed when she knew that he was right. It would only cause more damage if she ruined it for Alfie right now. It still didn't feel right though.

"Fine, but put me down already. I've had enough of you picking me up like this." Mina told him, pulling on his grip to get him to let her go. Jerome grinned to himself, a plan forming in his head quickly. He quickly spun her around and bent down. "Jerome, what are you . . ." He threw her over his shoulder and straightend up. She screamed when he picked her up over his shoulder.

"Is this way any better for you?" Jerome chuckled to her as she banged her fists onto his back.

"Jerome, put me down right now! Jerome!" Mina shouted out at him, giving up on beating on his back since it was obviously not doing anything to him. Jerome just laughed away at her. "Jerome!" He started spinning around, causing her to shriek. She grabbed onto his shirt, fearing that she would fall off of his shoulder on accident.

"So, Mina . . ." Alfie trailed off as he came back into the room in a shiny blue suit jacket. He stopped upon seeing Jerome holding Mina over his shoulder and spinning her around. "Uh, what's going on? Are you giving Mina flying lessons?" He asked with a chuckle. Jerome chuckled as he carefully put Mina back down on the ground. She was wobbly, but Jerome's grip on her arm kept her from falling over.

"Jerk." She mumbled out when the room stopped spinning. She swatted him on the arm. He chuckled and rubbed his him. "So, lets see this tux of yours . . . Alfie." Mina said as she turned to look at Alfie, whom was dressed in a shiny blue suit jacket with a reb bow tie around his neck. Underneath she saw that he was wearing a nice clean shirt and shiny blue pants that matched his jacket. She clenched her mouth shut, fearing that it would drop.

"Don't you like it?" Alfie asked her. Mina bit her lip and looked up at Jerome to see him grinning as he looked down at her. She knew that his look meant that it was up to her to either break Alfie's spirit or let him go on thinking that his suit looked good. She looked at it again on Alfie and decided that if on anyone else it would look worse than it did.

"You're the only person I know that could pull that off Alfie. It doesn't look bad on you. Not at all." Mina told him. She wasn't completely lying, she was just bending the truth a little. There was no doubt in her mind that no one else that she knew could pull off the jacket and bow tie like Alfie did.

"Thanks. Is Amber getting ready, does she look excited?" Alfie asked her as he went over to the mirror that the two boys had. Mina bit her lip again and looked at Jerome. He motioned her to go on. She shot him a look. A lot of help he was.

"Uh huh." Mina told him with a nod of her head. "Well, it's almost lights out so I'm going to go back to my room. Good luck with, uh, your date, Alfie. Oh, and don't forget a rose. Amber loves roses." Mina told him. She really wanted out of that room quick. She kissed Alfie's cheek as she walked passed him and left the room. Alfie and Jerome shared a shocked look before looking at the now closed door.

Mina could see Victor's shadow at the end of the hall. He was going to start his little speech about a pin thing soon. She'd rather have head phones in when he does. She hurried into her room and grabbed her I pod right as they the clock struck ten. Victor stood at the bottom on the stairs as the clock stuck ten. He took out his pocket watch and looked at the time.

"It's ten o'clock! You have five minute precisely and then I want to hear a pin . . . drop." He said as he pulled out a pin from his pocket and let it drop to the floor. He was welcomed with silence, the only sound meeting his ears being the sound of the pin dropping onto the floor.


	10. Stupid Stubborn Buttons

Thanks for the reviews! I do not own anything in this fiction besides Mina, everything else belongs to their rightful owners. No lemons that I know of her, not very good at writing them honestly lol.

Chapter 10

Early the next morning Mina had woken up to quite a morning surprise. She had gone to get breakfast when Amber was going upstairs to get freshen up. Her heart broke upon seeing Amber. She could only imagine how Alfie must be. She felt horrible for not saying anything as Amber passed by her, but what could she say? What's done was done. After seeing Amber her hunger had vanished though. She got a piece of toast and nibbled on it before going to get ready for the day. Once she was done she headed off to her classes. It might be early, but she didn't want to see anymore sad faces so early in the morning.

Only, she got side tracked on the way over to school, which was what delayed her. She had found a good view of the school's old fountain deserted. Usually it's filled with students everywhere around it. She had to get a sketch of it. It was rare for it to be empty, and she wasn't letting this chance pass her by.

When she finally got to the school, it was filled with kids. Her in classes weren't as eventful as her morning though, she zoned out in a good amount of them. When it came down to last period she was more than happy about it. She was on her way to the class when she spotted Jerome and Alfie, whom looked quite angry, at their lockers.

"I just can't believe that Amber was expecting Mick instead of you. Do you think that someone messed with your message?" She heard Jerome say to Alfie. Why that little sneak! She spotted a good hiding and listened to the rest of the conversation. She couldn't believe that Jerome was just telling Alfie what he wanted to hear, but then again? She almost could.

"Duh. What do you think?" Alfie was obviously upset. Mina had never heard him this mad before. Really, she's never heard Alfie be anything but silly.

"But who would do that?" From where she stood she could clearly see Jerome's expression. It didn't take long for her to realize that he had been the one to mess with Alfie's message to Amber.

"Mick, obviously." Alfie told him, causing Jerome to laugh.

"Yeah. Mick, of course. I should have thought of that." Jerome couldn't help but laugh, he was getting away with messing with Alfie's message to Amber. Mina couldn't believe that Jerome was letting this go on any longer, but then once again? She really could believe it.

"To weed his way back in with Amber." Alfie said sadly to Jerome as he shut his locker. "Looks like he succeeded." Alfie said to Jerome, the hurt in his tone was breaking Mina's heart.

"No, no, no. Amber's still got the hots for you, man. Without a doubt." Jerome said to his friend, putting his hand on his shoulder in a way of comfort. Mina's jaw clenched tightly. How long was Jerome going to keep playing Alfie for a fool?

"It didn't look that way when she was pushing me out of the room." Alfie said to him as he looked at the floor.

"Okay, look. Twenty says that I can get Mick totally out of Amber's life, by the end of the week, and pave the way for you to move in then. Easy." Jerome told Alfie as they started walking to class. He glanced up for a second to see Mina glaring at him. He paused, had she over heard them? He shook his head and went back to what he was saying.

"Twenty." He said as he held out his hand to Alfie. Alfie smiled and slap fived him. "No. I need payment in advance." Jerome told him. Alfie sighed before digging out money from his pocket and giving it to Jerome. Mina's jaw dropped to the floor. Jerome was such a sleaze ball! "Thank you." He grinned as they walked away. Mina narrowed her eyes, but didn't follow them. She had her last class in the other direction and she was gonna be late if she didn't go soon.

Mina was on her way back to the house when she spotted Jerome and Alfie heading toward the house as well. They were too far ahead and looked like they were too involved in what ever it was that they were talking about for her to even try to get their attention. She'd have to wait until she got Jerome alone, as much as she hates the idea of that, to talk to him about Alfie and Amber.

She noticed that Mara and Patricia were coming up behind her and slowed to a stop to wait for them. They seemed to be talking about something private, but stopped when they got close to Mina. "Hey, Mara. Patricia." She sent them a small wave before the three continued toward the house together.

"Hello, Mina. Where's Nina, with Fabian I'm guessing? Those two have been together every time that I've seen them." Mara said to her as the three made their way up the stairs. Mina smiled and gave an innocent shrug. She's noticed that too, and she'd be hurt if something was going on and Nina didn't tell her about it. They walked into the house to see that Victor had stopped Jerome and Alfie and were collecting their things.

"What's going on?" Mina asked Victor as the three girls walked inside the house. They all shared a confused look together before Mina looked up at Jerome for an answer.

"We have to have our bags searched." Jerome told her, the look in his eyes telling Mina that he wasn't joking around about this. Mina could tell that he was beyond confused too, so she didn't even bother asking why. Behind her Mara and Patricia shared a worried look.

"Why?" Patricia asked him.

"Patricia." Victor didn't want to explain things, Patricia was already curious enough about everything that was going on. Mina started unbuttoning her jacket, Mara doing the same, except one button wouldn't unbutton. It was being stupid.

"What's the matter?" Jerome whispered to her as Patricia and Victor argued together. Mina looked up at him quickly before going back to trying to unbutton her coat. Why was it being so stubborn right now? Was it sewed in there or something?

"Stupid button won't unbutton." She mutter quietly to him, a blush coming to her cheeks upon knowing that everyone was going to be waiting for her as soon a Patricia gave in and handed over her things to Victor. She heard Jerome chuckle before she felt herself being moved back a little.

"Here, let me be of assistance." He chuckled to her as he moved in front of her. She glanced at Mara and Aflie to see that they were staring at them confused with wide eyes. "Her jacket is stuck, get your minds out of the gutters, children." Jerome said to them, making it clear that he knew what they were thinking. "Though if you would like I could help you with your shirt as well later on in your room." Jerome chuckled quietly to Mina as he tugged on the button. Mina felt herself burn up in the face.

"You wish, Jerome." She whispered to him. She glanced at Alfie to see that he wasn't paying them any attention. "We need to talk. Alone." Mina whispered to him as he finally got the button unstuck and took it upon himself to unbutton the rest of the buttons to her jacket.

"If that's what you want to call it, then sure. I'll come by your room around midnight. Alfie never sleeps, I swear." Jerome rolled his eyes, but wasn't lying to her. Alfie was like an energy ball, but normally he's out like a light once he's confined to his room for the night. Mina nodded as he finished with her jacket. "There you go, but that shirt is such a tease. Are you sure . . ." Jerome stared to say.

"I'm sure, Jerome. Here you go, Victor. Can I go take my shower now?" Mina asked him as handed him her coat. She fought back a giggle when she saw Jerome's face from the corner of her eye. Victor nodded once he got everyone's things in order. "Thanks. I'll see you guys later." She said to the girls, glancing at Jerome quickly to make sure that he got the words between the lines. She would be meeting him later on, but not because she wanted it, because it wasn't right with what he was doing to Amber, Mick, and Alfie. She left soon after to go grab her towel and robe before going to the shower.

Mina was on her way back to her room from her shower when she bumped into Mara and Patricia. They seemed to be in deep conversation about something, but yet again stopped the second that they saw her. It didn't concern her, and as long as it wasn't about Nina, she wasn't going to ask them. "Hey, Mina. So I have a question for you." Mara asked she walked up to the two.

"If it about Nina and your friend Joy, I'll say what Nina and I have been saying from the beginning. We don't know Joy, haven't even heard of her before Patricia started accusing Nina, so there for we don't have anything to do with her leaving." Mina quickly explained to them, glancing back and forth between the two to make it clear that she was serious. Patricia just rolled her eyes at her.

"That wasn't what I wanted to ask. I swear." Mara told her. Mina blushed, feeling bad for going off on them. It wasn't like it was out of no where though, Patricia's been attacking Nina since the day that they got here. "I wanted to ask you if there was anything going on between you and Jerome." Mara asked her, causing Mina to choke on air. She looked at her with wide eyes, wondering if she was serious. By the look on their faces, they were seriously wondering that.

"Uh, no. Jerome's, well . . . he's just Jerome. I haven't even been here a week, and besides, I already have a date for Friday." Mina tried to explain to them, but she was finding it hard to do. She didn't know how to explain Jerome to them. At times he was slimeball, but then he had his moments where he wasn't. "And it's not with Jerome, though he almost got the guy to cancel on me, but Jerome's not as scary as he thinks he that is." Mina said upon seeing the looks between Mara and Patricia.

"Why would Jerome try to scare him?" Mara asked her as the three made their way down stairs. Mina was starting to shiver from the cold air. She shrugged, not having a clue to why Jerome would feel the need to try to scare her date off. "Well, see you later on, Mina." Mara said with a quick wave to Mina when they got to the bottom of the stairs. Mina smiled and gave them a small wave before heading off toward her room to go get dressed.

"You actually want to meet who ever this boy is, Mara?" Patricia asked Mara as they walked into the living room together. "What are you grinning at?" She asked Jerome upon seeing him grinning like a mad man on the couch.

"Just happy to be alive." Jerome told her as the two girls sat down. Mara glanced at Jerome with a small grin before looking back at Patricia. She wasn't oblivious to what was going on. Jerome was acting different with Mina. He didn't usually try so hard to get a girl. He usually gave up after a day or two of being rejected.

"Yes. I do want to meet him, Patricia. I mean, if Mina's going to be dating him? We might want to make sure that he'd good enough for her. If he's not? We're going to have to watch her be heart broken." Mara continued on with her conversation between herself and Patricia from out in the hall way. Patricia gave her a questioning look, but glancing at Jerome she quickly caught on to what Mara was up to. He was frowning now and looked like he was biting back a response to what Mara had just said.

"And we don't need that, now do we?" Patricia told her before turning her attention to Jerome. "Any sign of Victor with our bags?" She asked him, changing the subject of Mina to what she was more worried about at the moment. What if Victor found the file in her bag? Would he confront her about it?

"No. It's great, isn't it? The perfect excuse to not do French homework." Jerome said to them, trying not to think about Mina and her 'boyfriend'. Hadn't he scared him off? Apparently not enough to not come back. He looked up to see Victor coming in the room with their bags in hand. "Uh, spoke too soon." He said to them in clear disappointment.

"Here we are. All checked." He said to the all as he set the bags down on the tables in the center of the room.

"Did you find anything?" Patricia asked him, hoping to god that he wouldn't confront her right here and now, or that he even found the file at all, which was very unlikely. Victor looked down at her, pleased to see that the girl was worried.

"Nothing that shouldn't be there, no." Victor said to her before he left the room and went back up to his own room. Patricia was hopeful that he hadn't found the file, even though there was a very good chance that he did.

"Weird, he didn't say anything. Maybe he didn't find it." Patricia whispered to Mara excitedly as she reached for her bag on the table. Jerome got up, taking his and Mina's bags with him as left the room without being noticed by the others and left the house.

"Is it there? Have you got it?" Mara asked her as Patricia looked through her bag.

"No."

"So he did find it then?" Mara asked her. She was confused on why Victor hadn't said anything to them when Patricia had asked him at it.

"Obviously."

"But didn't say anything?"

"Think about it. They don't want to get into any kind of discussion, so it's easier to just steal the file back and pretend it never happened." Patricia explained to Mara. It made sense, or at least to them it did.

"I suppose." Mara was still a little bit doubtful of this, even if what Patricia was saying made some sense to her.

"Now do you think there's a conspiracy?"

"Did Victor give back our bags yet?" Mina's voice broke them out of their whispers as they jumped and looked up to see her coming into the room. "Oh, there they are." Mina said as she made her way over to the table to grab her bag. She had accidentally left her phone inside of her bag and had to text Robby back about their plans for Friday. She looked at each of the bags but couldn't find hers. "Uh, did Victor not bring mine down with the rest? It was the green one with the monkeys on it." Mina asked the two on the chairs and Amber, who was reading her magazine on the couch by the window.

"I thought that I saw it in the bunch. It's not there? Are you sure?" Mara asked as she shot Patricia a look before getting up to help Mina look for her bag. Patricia helped them both as well. Why would Victor keep her bag? Mina, even if she was new, didn't seem like the one to be hiding something. Nina, on the other hand, did. She's been sneaking out of the room at midnight for the past two nights.

"Jerome took it." Amber spoke out. The three girls shared a confused look before looking at Amber. She looked up from her magazine to see them all looking at her. "What? While you two were in your hush hush talk, he grabbed his and Mina's bags and left the house." Amber told them, but they were still confused on why he would feel the need to talk her bag. "Oh, yeah! Mina, he looked through yours before he left. He looked like he was looking for something. I don't know what though." Amber told them. Mara and Patricia looked at Mina confused. What would Jerome be looking for in her bag?

"What would he . . . oh, he's dead. I'll see you guys later. I've got a rat to kill." Mina said angrily to them before leaving the room and heading towards her own. She knew that if Jerome had left the house that there was a slim chance of her actually being able to find him, but he would be coming by later on. What confused her though, was why Jerome made it his goal plan to annoy her and ruin her personal life?

"So anyways, do you think Mick is playing hard to get? If he is, I think that's so childish. You've just got to ask yourself, WWVBD. What would Victoria Beckham do?" Amber broke the silence of the room. She didn't wait for an answer from them before going back to her magazine, acting like nothing had just happened. Mara and Patricia stared at her like she was insane.

Mina was waiting for Jerome in her room, it was almost midnight and he should be here soon. She was suppose to have her lights out, but she guessed that this was the upside of having a room down stairs. She thought to pass the time that she'd sketch something real quick. When she was sketching, it was like she was in another place. She's been sketching a lot this pass week, mostly of places in the house, but drawing non the less.

She jumped when she heard a small knock on her door. She set her sketch book down and got off of her bed. She moved across the room and opened the room to reveal Jerome on the other side, his cologne hitting her the second that she inhaled a breath. She gave him a quick look over to see that unlike herself, he had come in nice looking clothes. What exactly did he think she meant when she told him that she needed to talk to him?

"Come in before Victor smells you and finds you here." She giggled as she pulled him inside of the room and quietly shut the door behind him. He shot her a fake hurt look as he looked around her room. He had only been in it once before but he had focused more of keeping Mina from not leaving the room than actually looking around it.

"What? You don't like it?" He asked her as he picks up her sketch book off the mattress before laying out on top of her bed and getting comfortable. Well he didn't waist time to make himself at home, Mina thought to herself. She was more worried about him seeing her sketches though.

"Don't look at those." Mina fought back the urge to shout at him. She jumped forward and snatched the book from his hands before he could see beyond the page that it was open to. He held up his hands in surrender before moving them behind his head. The room felt silent as she put her sketch book inside of her closet. "I heard what you were saying to Alfie in the hall today, and how you scammed him out of money." She said shyly to him, breaking the awkward silence. Jerome shifted in his spot on the bed nervously. So she had over heard him and Alfie in the hall, he should have guessed as much when he saw her.

"It's like I told you last night, Mina. Amber and Alfie? They're romance in the making. Now if they need a little push in the right direction? Who am I as Alfie's best friend not give them that push?" Jerome made it sound like he wasn't doing anything wrong, but even when it sounded right, Mina knew that he was wrong.

"Not if your little 'push' is going to hurt Mick, Amber, and Alfie. Amber's going to be crushed if Mick leaves her for something that she didn't even do. Alfie's going to be worse than crushed when Amber rejects him even with Mick out of the picture." Mina could see that Jerome wasn't really caring for what she had to say though, which angered her to no point. These people were suppose to be his friends!

"Not that you aren't making a valid point and all, but we have matters to discuss more important that Alfie and Amber's love lives." Jerome said to her as he got up from her bed and moved in front of her, towering over her as he came face to face with her. "You initiation task." He chuckled to her, amused by the fact that her cheeks were bright red. She stood tall and kept her expression calm, even though her whole body was expressing her worry.

"I swear to god, Jerome, if it's to kiss you or to cancel my date with Robby, which I might add I know that you have my bag and phone . . ." Mina was starting to ramble on, which she always did when she was extremely nervous. Jerome chuckled, finding this rambling of her's adorable.

"It's not to kiss me, though I was tempted, and I do have your things but not with me. You'll get those tomorrow before first class. You'll have to find out what damage control you'll have to do for your date later on today as well." Jerome told her, grinning at the fact that she had kissing him on her mind. He also liked the idea of having the upper hand on her personal life.

"Fine. So what is it? What's my big initiation task, Jerome?" Mina said to his with an eye roll. Jerome noticed that she had taken a step back from him, that made his smile to himself. He got to her, and they both knew it. It was only a matter of time before she gave in. He took a step forward toward her, leaning down closer to her until he was inches away from her face. He grinned when he heard her gasp at the closeness.

"Be ready to carry my books, get my breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and possibly feed me tomorrow, Little Miss Mina." He whispered into ther ear, his hot breath hitting her skin, causing a shiver to flow down her spine. She felt her face flush, her skin becoming extremely hot from her blush. Jerome chuckled as he saw the effect that he had on her.

"So . . . so what? I . . I'm gonna be what? Your slave girl for the day?" Mina tried to say with no nervousness, but it was clear that she was nervous. Jerome shrugged as he headed toward the door. He opened it a little and poked his head out to see if anyone was there.

"Call it what you want, but in a matter of speaking? Yes, that would be right. Good night, Mina." Jerome said to her with a wink before he slipped out of her room and left to go back to his own. Mina's jaw dropped as she collapsed onto her bed. Tomorrow is going to be the worse day of her life.


	11. Initiations Suck

_Thanks for all of the reviews! I'm glad everyone's liking this! I do not own anything, besides Mina, everything else belongs to their rightful owners._

_Chapter 11_

_Enjoy!_

_Bang! _Mina tossed in her bed. _Bang!_ She turned back in her sleep. _Bang! _A whimper escaped her lips, her fingers gripping her sheets. _Bang!_ She shot up with a scream. She looked around her room to see that no one was there. _Bang!_ She jumped out of her skin when she looked at the door. Someone was knocking on it. She slowly got up and headed toward the door, opening it to reveal an already dressed Jerome.

"Did you just scream?" Jerome asked her as he came into her room, uninvited might she add in there. She wasn't fully awake yet to process that he was in her room before seven o'clock. "Everything's in there, don't worry." He said as he tossed her bag on her bed. Her mind seemed to wake up when she saw him pull out one of her bra's though.

"Hey! Get out of my dresser!" She shouted out, jumping into motion then. He chuckled as he held up the bra. "What do you think you're doing?" She hissed at him as she pulled her bra from his hand and tucked it away back into her dresser. Jerome chuckled, had she forgotten what he had told her before he left last night? Though, she had just woken up, maybe it was momentary memory lost.

"I think that I'm picking out your outfit today, or well, your outfit for when you get out of your shower after classes. Go change into your uniform and meet me in the dinning room so you can prepare my breakfast." Jerome told her as he looked through her closet. It then dawned on her. Her initiation task. She was Jerome's slave girl for the day, but that didn't mean that he got to be rude to her. Jerome saw that she hadn't left yet and rolled his eyes at her. She huffed when she saw that he wasn't going to say anything else to her and left the room.

Nina entered the dining room twenty minutes later to see that almost everyone was already down there and eating their breakfast peacefully. Mina was missing from the room though. "Morning, Nina." Mina's voice broke her thoughts. Nina saw her sister coming in from the kitchen holding two plates of food.

"Morning, Min. Are you extra hungry today or something?" Nina asked her sister as the two walked more into the room. Mina shook her head no before walking over to Jerome and setting his plate down in front of him. Nina watched as he whispered something to her, causing Mina to roll her eyes and pull the chair next to him closer as she sat down.

"Morning, Nina." Fabian said to her as she sat down next to him. Nina looked at him before going back to watching Mina tuck Jerome's napkin into his shirt. Fabian caught onto her confusion quickly. "It's her initiation task. She's to be Jerome's personal 'slave girl', as she put it, for the whole day." Fabian filled her in. Nina nodded and continued to watch the two on the other side of the table.

"Now, if you don't mind, would you feed me my food please, Mina?" Jerome was getting a kick out of all of this. Mina had yet to see what he planned for her to wear later on, which was going to a priceless moment for him when she does. Mina's jaw clenched shut, was he serious right now? Feed him!

"Excuse me?" She heard the others around the table chuckle quietly. Mina wanted to say so much more then that to him right now, but she decided against it. It might not end well, well really for both of them. It would possibly end with Jerome covered in his food, and with her having more chores to do. She thanked god that today wasn't Jerome's day to do chores.

"Feed me, it wasn't really a question, Mina. Now, if you will, I'm quite hungry." Jerome said to her, a grin bouncing happily on his face. Mina narrowed her eyes at him, but still ripped a piece off of his toast and put it in his mouth. "Delicious." He said to her once he finished chewing. Mina couldn't help but imagining herself getting up and pouring the pitcher of orange juice onto Jerome's head. That image was what got her through breakfast.

"So, have you guys given anymore thought to your ancient history project yet?" Mr. Winkler asked the class, looking around to room to find someone to ask. "Mick." He called on. Everyone turned to look at Mick in the back row.

"Yeah. History of the Roman gladiatorial games." Mick told him. Mina glanced back at Jerome to see that he wasn't even paying attention. He and Alfie were working on something, probably their own project.

"Excellent."

"With a, practical demonstration of me as a gladiator, humiliating and destroying Alfie in a very public arena." Mick continued on, making a point to get Alfie's attention by saying that. Mina coughed, holding back the giggle that wanted to be let out. She knew that this would end badly. She had to wonder though, what did Mick think was actually going on?

"C'mon, Mick." Alfie wasn't going to back down, even if he did know that he'd lose against Mick in fight. If Amber saw her precious Mick hurt him though, she'd be worried and tend him, not Mick. Mina looked back at Jerome to see him glance up at her.

"See what you did." She whispered to his harshly before turning back around. Jerome chuckled and sat back in his seat. Alfie gave him a questioning look, but he just shrugged in return.

"Right." Mr. Winkler said, confused as he looked down at Nina and Fabian in front of him. Alfie turned around, not wanting to look at Mick next to him any longer. "Fabian, uh, anymore thoughts on your project yet?" He said as he turned his attention to Fabian in front of him.

"Uh, yeah. Me and Nina thought we might do something on Egyptian mythology." Fabian told him, glancing at Nina every few seconds as he did. Mina smiled upon watching the two in front of her. She liked the idea of Fabian with her sister. She trusted Fabian, unlike the other guys Nina had dated before.

"Yes, especially with the Anubis house being names after an Egyptian god." Nina continued on. Mr. Winkler clearly was impressed by their project idea. Which was a plus for them. They could look for more clues, and get a good grade in their history class.

"Yeah, nice one. Nice one. You know I'm . . I'm, a particular fan of Egyptian mythology. All that interesting life after death, and living forever." Mr. Winkler informed them, now peaking Nina and Fabian's interest more.

"Uck, you'd want to live forever? Imagine how wrinkled you'd get." Amber spoke out, causing Mick to scoff. Mina and Amber looked back at him, only Amber not knowing what his problem was. "What?" She whispered to him, but he ignored her. "What's wrong with you?" She whispered to him again. He's the one that stood her up, shouldn't that mean that she's the one who's suppose to be mad at him, not the other way around?

"What do you think is wrong with me?" Mick asked her, keeping his voice low, even though he would very much like to be shouting at Amber right now. What was she thinking? Going on a date with Alfie of all people?

"I have absolutely no idea." Amber told him honestly. Mina glanced at Jerome and gave him a deadly glare. He's the one to cause this, and it killed her to be the only other one besides Jerome himself to know about it.

"You two. Quiet." Mr. Winkler said as he turned around to face the class again. The bell soon rang after the two quieted down. "Okay, we will continue this session after lunch." Mr. Winkler said out as the class started leaving the room for lunch.

"Hey, Amber." Alfie said as he got up, stopping her from leaving right away. "Can I, uh, carry your books?" Alfie stuttered out, thinking of something to say to her quickly. Amber and Mina shared a quick confused look.

"Here you go, Mina. You can carry mine." Jerome said to her happily as he passed Mina his books. Mina didn't know how she'd be able to carry both her own things and Jerome's with out either dropping them all, or mixing them all up, which she didn't want to do at all.

"Thank, Alfie. I think I can manage." Amber said to him before taking off to find Mara for lunch. Alfie's smile dropped as he watched her walk away. He turned his attention to a struggling Mina and brightened up.

"Mina, would you like me to carry some of that for you?" Alfie asked her as he moved around the tables and took her stuff off of the table she was sitting at for her. Alfie was now officially Mina's best friend, he really was a life saver at the moment.

"Thank, Alfie. Are you sure? I can find a way to manage, it's my stuff after all." Mina did feel a bit bad that Alfie would now have to carry his own stuff and hers. Alfie shrugged, brushing it off as if it was nothing though. "Alfie, you are a life saver. I could kiss you." Mina laughed, but stopped when she noticed Alfie's expression. "In a matter of speaking, I mean. You'll be playing soccer outside, right?" She asked him. He nodded quickly to her. "I'll see you out there then." She laughed before kissing his cheek and leaving the room.

Jerome stood there in shock, not because she left the room with his stuff with out him, she knew that if Alfie was going outside for lunch that Jerome wouldn't be far. He was in shock because she had kissed Alfie, granted it was just on the cheek, but still. If he had offered to take her things, she would have said no without hesitation. She would have thought that he had an alternative motive for asking her. Though, when Alfie asks her? He's a life saver.

"Alfie, what kind of line was that?" Jerome asked him once Mina was out of the room. Alfie didn't really care what Jerome thought at the moment though. The line hadn't really worked on Amber sadly, but it did work on Mina. Not to mention that he got a kiss on the cheek by her, twice now.

"It worked, didn't it?" Alfie chuckled to his friend before leaving for lunch, Jerome rolling his eyes before following after him. He still can't understand the pang in his chest when Mina kissed Alfie's cheek, or when he saw the blush that rose to Alfie's face afterward.

Outside some of the Anubis house group was at the soccer field. Alfie was the only one actually playing the game though. Amber, Mara, and Mina were sitting on one of the benches talking while Jerome and Mick were standing on the opposite side of the field talking and watching the others. Mina would glance up every few minutes at them, knowing that Jerome was filling Mick's heads with lies.

"Amber! Mina! Catch." Alfie shouted out to them as he ran over to them with the soccer ball. He tossed the ball at them before they had a chance to react. The girls gasped as it bounced off of Amber's head. Mina quickly covered her mouth to catch herself from letting out her giggles. Now was not the time to laugh.

"Oww!" Amber screamed out.

"Sorry. Sorry." Alfie said to her as he picked up the ball. He couldn't believe that it actually hit her in the head with the ball.

"Alfie!" Amber shouted out. Alfie quickly passed the ball over to someone else before going back to the game. "As is I would ever fancy Alfie." Amber said once he was gone, going back to her conversation with Mara and Mina before Alfie had interrupted them.

"What on earth does she see in him?" Mick asked Jerome as they watched the girls chat away together across the field.

"Well they say love is blind, mate." Jerome said to him as they watched Alfie practice kicking the ball. Jerome looked over at Mina to see her talking to Amber. He really hoped that she doesn't ruin this for him.

"And have to be blind, and have to have no sense of smell." Mick told him as he watched Amber, not believing that she would go for Alfie over him. Jerome just chuckled away beside him as he watched the girls as well.

"Why don't you go across and speak to Mick?" Mara said to Amber, Mina beside her nodding in agreement. Amber didn't agree with them though. Mick had stood her up, flirted with Mara, gave Mara the same bracelet he had given her, and now he thought he had the right to mad at her. He should be the one apologizing to her, not the other way around.

"Mina, you saw the note he left me. It was asking to meet, and then he didn't turn up." Amber told them. Mina bit her lip, wishing so badly that she could rat out Jerome, but she knew that she couldn't. Amber was her friend, but so was Alfie. She didn't know how much longer she could keep them in the dark about Jerome's real involvement in all of this though. "Why would he do something like that?" Amber said as they watched Jerome and Mick talking across the field.

"I don't know." Mara told her.

"No idea, who can get inside of a head of a boy?" Mina said to them with a shrug.

"No one, it's not big enough." Amber told them, a hint of a smile on her lips as she looked over at Mina and Mara. The three cracked up in laughter after a moment of trying to be serious.

"Look at those three laughing. They're laughing at me." Mick said to Jerome, who's eyes were locked on Mina. "Gary, put me on. Yeah?" Mick said as he went to join in on the game. Alfie froze where he stood on the field. Mina froze as well, hoping that Mick didn't hurt Alfie. "I'd get that smile off your face, if I was you." Mick said as he dribbled the ball up to Alfie. Alfie laughed it off though. Without a moments notice, Mick pushed Alfie to the ground roughly.

"Alfie!" Mina shouted out in fear of her friend being hurt.

"What was that for?" Amber shouted out as the two got up and hurried over to the two. Mara was too in shock with her jaw on the floor to move.

"Mick, what was that mate?" Jerome shouted out as he jogged over as well. Mina and Amber came behind Alfie to see how badly he was hurt.

"Alfie, are you okay?" Mina asked him, but the second he saw them he screamed out in pain. Mick laughed, but frowned upon seeing the girls get down and hug Alfie. Jerome crouched down beside Alfie and Mina to check on his friend, glancing at Mina with a worried expression. Mina's glare disappeared the second she saw the worry in Jerome's eyes.

"Ah ha, I think I broke my ankle." Alfie cried out.

"What? He's faking it! I hardly even touched him!" Mick shouted out, knowing that Alfie was indeed faking it. The girls didn't believe him though. He walked away angrily. Mina watched as Jerome asked Alfie questions, trying to figure out how badly his ankle really was. Jerome knew that he was faking, but he played along, even when he didn't want to at the moment. Not only was Amber falling for Alfie's fake injury, but Mina was as well. He helped up his friend anyways and helped him back to the house, the girls not far behind him.

Amber went ahead of them to get the couch comfortable for Alfie. Mina and Jerome were stuck helping him walk back. Since Mina was with them, Alfie couldn't just walk back on his own with Jerome. Mina so badly wanted to yell at Jerome, but since Alfie was with them, she couldn't. They got Alfie inside and Amber got him comfortable on the couch.

Mina was going to make Alfie some tea, but Jerome decided that it was time for Mina to stop paying attention to Alfie's 'injury' and more on him since she was suppose to be his personal slave girl today. "Amber's got Alfie covered. You go upstairs and shower. I can't wait to see you in what I picked out for you to wear." Jerome said as he pushed Mina out of the room. "I'll get your robe and bring it on upstairs. I won't peak at nothing, I swear. Now, go!" Jerome said to her as he got her to the stairs. He took a chance and slapped her on the but as he pointed upstairs. She turned around, ready to hit him when he took a step back.

"Jerome, I swear to . . ."

"Nah, uh uh, Miss Mina. You wouldn't be saying no to something I told you to do, now would you?" Jerome had her there. She scoffed and rolled her eyes before heading upstairs to take her shower. Jerome chuckled as he watched her go upstairs. He waited until she was really gone before heading to her room and getting her bath robe.

Mina was putting the shampoo in her hair when she went a breeze hit her. "You could have knocked at least, Jerome. What if I hadn't had the curtain closed?" She spoke out, thinking that it was him that had come in during her shower. She froze when she heard her sister's nervous laugh instead of Jerome's deep toned laughter.

"Since when are you expecting Jerome while you're showering, Min?" She giggled out to her. Mina froze, what was she suppose to say? Nina giggled when she didn't hear anything back from her sister. "Don't worry, I caught Jerome about to come in here with your robe. I offered to take it in here for you, and didn't take no for an answer." Nina told her sister as she set the robe down on the sink. She was surprised to see that Jerome had taken her floor length robe, she would have thought that he'd pick the short one that she knew Mina owned. Did Jerome not want Mina to show off more to Alfie, Fabian, and Mick than he wanted to seen?

"Well, uh, thanks then. Knowing Jerome he would have tried to look in here. How's Alfie doing? Is he doing anything better?" Mina asked her sister as she rinsed out the shampoo. Nina had heard from Amber that Mick had pushed Alfie and broken his ankle when he fell. Did she completely believe it? No, but it appeared that Mina did.

"Trudy had Jerome and Fabian bring him back to his room. Trudy's bringing in his dinner later. Speaking of dinner, it should be ready soon." Nina told her. Mina nodded, pleased to hear that Alfie was okay for the time being. She felt as if it was her fault that Alfie was hurt. If she had told them all what she knew, would this have never happened? Mina shook her head, there was no need going over the what ifs. What happened had happened, and there wasn't anything she could do to change it now.

"Thanks for telling me. I'll see you when I get out, okay Nina?" Mina tried to play it off as nothing, but Nina could tell that she was feeling guilty about Alfie getting hurt. She didn't know why Mina would feel guilty, but maybe it was just because that's the kind of person Mina was. She hated seeing her friends get hurt.

"Okay then. I'll see you when you get out, Min. Oh, and it's the long robe, so be careful going down the stairs in it." Nina said to her sister with a small smile playing on her lips when she knew Mina had tensed up. She giggled before leaving the bathroom. Mina paused, wondering what Nina had a minute ago.

The others were all waiting for dinner. Fabian, Amber and Nina were sitting at their end of the table, chatting away about something or another. Jerome was waiting for Mina to join them. He had a grin bouncing off his lips, wishing that Mina would hurry up and get changed. Mara and Patricia were talking in hushed voices about something. Mick was missing from the table, most likely out for a run. Mara glanced up at the door and gasped out at what she saw. This got everyone's attention and they all looked up at the door way to see Mina standing there awkwardly.

Jerome couldn't help but start laughing, causing Mina to turn red on sight. She was dressed in her mini black dress, one dress that she had forgotten that she had even packed with her. How she miss it when she was unpacking her thing, she'll never know. Jerome seemed to find it just fine though. It just barely covered any of her legs and she hated it. It was also strap less, which made things worse. She had worn it once on a date, but that was before it met the dryer and shrunk. She was having a had time keeping it from slipping too far down, but at the same time keeping it from raising too far up at the bottom.

Jerome got up from his seat and went over to her. "You look absolutely stunning, my dear." He chuckled as he took her hand and kissed her knuckles. She forced a smile and let him lead her over to the chair next to him. He pulled out her chair, motioning for her to sit. She gave him a wary look before sitting down. He grinned as he helped her push in her seat before slipping into his own seat next to her.

She hated all of the attention that she was getting from everyone, especially from Alfie, Fabian and Jerome. She would very much like to dump the pitcher of water over Jerome's head at this moment. He kept looking too far down and she was hating it. He, once again, made her feed him his food. She was so glad that there was only a few more hours of this left and then she was done.

After dinner Mina hurried off to her room, slamming her bedroom door behind once she was inside. She took a shaky breath as she sat on her bed and struggled to get her shoes off. Did Jerome have to pick the one pair of heels that she owned that were the hardest to get off. Why did she even have them? Oh yeah, they were cute and totally worth the hassle at the time. It so didn't help that her hands were shaking badly.

She thought that over all during classes that Jerome was giving her a break. Yeah, juggling his books and her own were hard, and having to feed him was annoying and degrading, but that wasn't the worst that he could have done to her. This dress though? This was beyond degrading. She felt like dirt, like trash a drunk brings home. Sure, she kept a strong face on during dinner, but alone in her own room? It wasn't working as well.

"Come on you stupid shoe." She growled as the shoe was being a pain to get off. Her hands kept slipping and it hurt. After a minute she was ready to scream. Finally she got one of them off and chucked it across the room at the door as it opened. Jerome ducked quickly, just barely dodging the evil shoe.

"And what did that boot ever do to you, might I ask." Jerome chuckled to her, not fully taking in the mess on the bed that was Mina Martin. Mina just ignored him though. She wiped her mascara stained cheeks before going to take a crack at taking off her other shoe.

"Just go away, Jerome. The day is done, this stupid initiation thing? It's done, so just go away." Mina said to him as she struggled with her other shoe. Having Jerome near by was not helping her at all. The sound of his laughter was just pissing her off more. Usually his laughter made her want to laugh with him, but right now? Not so much.

"You see, it's not over just yet. I have until midnight if I remember right." Jerome said as he closed the door behind him. Mina squeezes her eyes shut tight, wishing that he would go away. She let out a small scream when her boot refused to come off. This caught Jerome's attention and he finally took in the sight before him. Mina looked a mess. Her hair was everywhere, her dress looked like scrap that was just barely covering her, and she had mascara running down her face. "Are you alright?" He asked her, the laughter now gone from his tone completely. Mina let out a sob laced laugh with an eye roll. Now he noticed that she wasn't alright?

"Just go away, Jerome. I'm fine." She told him as she kept on with her attempt to take off her boot. Jerome didn't believe her though. Not only because he could hear the hurt in her voice, but her appearance. Mina was always together, always with a calm head, well almost always. Now she just looked like a mess.

Jerome didn't say anything as he moved in front of her and got down on one knee. He noticed that her hands were hands and she he felt bad. Was this his fault. She had been fine all day, what had made her crack? He pushed hands away and took a hold of the bottom of the boot and underneath her lower leg. "What don't you . . ." Mina trailed off as Jerome easily pulled off her boot and set it down next to him. ". . . thanks." She muttered as she moved away from him. Jerome sighed and stood back up on his feet.

"No problem." Jerome said to her. He shifted back and forth on his feet, not knowing what he should do now. Mina thought that he would have left by now, but apparently he wasn't leaving on his own.

"You can go now. I have to change." Mina said as she got up. Her legs were a little wobbly at first, but she didn't show it. Jerome nodded and went to leave. He made it to the door before he heard her cursing under her breath. He looked back over his shoulder to see that Mina was having trouble getting her dress off.

Her hands were shaking so badly that she couldn't get a good grip in the zipper long enough to get it to unzip. She jumped a mile when she felt hands push her's away. Why hadn't he left yet? Did he get that she didn't want him in here? Why couldn't he understand that he had caused her enough trouble for one day?

"Jerome, you need to . . ."

"You Americans really don't know how to just let someone help you." Jerome cut her off as she unzipped Mina's dress for her. She spun around, holding up her dress now as she glared up at him.

"Not when it's you. When you help someone, you usually want something in return." Mina said to him as she took a step away from him. She didn't want him any more closer to her than he was already. Jerome rolled his eyes at her. She was dead on right, but that didn't mean that he had to admit that to her.

"If this is about the Alfie and Amber thing . . ."

"This is not just about the Alfie and Amber thing, Jerome. Anytime you do anything for anyone, there's always a price to pay. I guess Alfie had to learn that the hard way today." Mina said as she moved around him and over to the door.

"Do you really believe that . . ."

"I want you to leave, Jerome. You've had your fun, now go." Jerome couldn't believe that she still believed that Alfie was seriously hurt. She wouldn't even give him a chance to tell her the truth about Alfie either. He rolled his eyes and left the room. Mina took a deep breath and changed into her pajamas quickly before climbing into bed. Hopefully everything would be better tomorrow.


	12. Burnt Toast and Broken Ankles

Thanks for all of the reviews! I do not own anything in this fiction, besides Mina of course lol, everything else belongs to their rightful owners.

Chapter 12

The morning after Alfie was laid out on the couch, his foot now wrapped up, drinking tea that Mina had made for him. She and Jerome hadn't said a word to the other all morning, not to say that it wasn't for the lack of trying on Jerome's part though. "Would you like another sugar in your tea, Alfie?" Amber asked him sweetly as she slid another pillow behind his head. Mina was in the kitchen making him some toast.

"Yes please."

"What about some toast? Mina's making some in the kitchen." Amber asked him as she took his tea cup from him.

"Toast would be nice. Oh, Mina!" He asked out to Mina in the kitchen as he sat up. He was enjoying the extra attention that he was getting from both Mina and Amber. Mina looked up from her spot in the kitchen and looked over at Alfie through the window. "With peanut butter." He asked her. She nodded and went to go grab the peanut butter from the cabinet, but stopped when Alfie called out to her again. "Oh, and Mina! A little bit of honey, honey." Alfie said to her with a playful smile to her. Amber and Mina shared a confused look through the window.

"Uh, sure Alfie." Mina nodded before going to get the honey and peanut butter from the cabinet. Jerome had finished his own toast that Mina had made him and was cleaning off the table. Well, she hadn't really made it for him. He had just taken it, not knowing that it was hers, while she was out of the room. Fabian was still eating his breakfast at the other end of the table.

"Mick and Amber are definably finished then?" Fabian asked him when he came next to him.

"Well, it looks like it." Jerome said to Fabian as he collected the silverware from the table. Fabian still had his doubt though. Alfie was milking up both Mina and Amber's sympathy, not just Amber's.

"I can't believe she went on a date with Alfie." Fabian said as he watched Amber come back into the room with some more tea. She left the room soon after to go fetch him a blanket. Jerome shot Alfie a look and a hand motion, silently telling him that everything was going to plan. "I mean what's next? You and Mina?" Fabian caught Jerome off guard, but he was saved by a crash coming from the kitchen.

"Stupid cabinet!" Mina shouted out from inside the kitchen. Jerome and Fabian shared a look before hurrying into the kitchen. They stopped upon seeing the sight before him. Jerome couldn't help but laugh upon seeing Mina on the floor holding her head covered in flower.

"What happened?" Fabian asked her as he went over to help her. Jerome just shook his head and laughed, not being able to help himself. As much as he would have liked to help Mina, he was fairly sure that she would only be more mad at him if he came near her.

"I was getting the honey, but it was on the top shelve in the way back. So, not wanting to both you, and since Alfie is hurt, I tried to climb up on the counter and get it. Only, my hand kind of slipped and I guess that I accidentally grabbed the flower on my way down." Mina explained to them as Fabian went to help her up. Jerome couldn't but noticed that she hadn't even thought of asking him. "Oww!" Mina cried out as she fell back onto the floor the second that she put pressure on her left foot. Jerome seemed to jump to her side the second that she cried out.

"What is it? What's wrong?" Jerome asked her as he got down to the floor with Fabian and Mina, not caring if he got flower all over him. Fabian gave him a curious look, but soon it formed into a small smile. Mina looked at him cautiously, not knowing if she wanted him near her after her break down last night.

"I think that I twisted my ankle when I fell." Mina told them as she rubbed her soar ankle. She was in no way able to walk, not that they would have let her anyways.

"Is Mina alright?" They heard Alfie shout out from his spot on the couch. "Is that smoke?" He asked out a moment later upon smelling smoke. Fabian jumped up and hurried to get the forgotten toast out of the toaster. Well it looks like Mina took a fall for nothing.

"I'm fine, Alfie. It was just the toast." Mina said out as she tried to get up on her own. She swatted away Jerome's hands and glared at him. She didn't like the worried look that he was giving her. She glanced up at Fabian to see that he was giving her a similar look. "Will you guys stop looking at me like that. I'm . . . Oww!" She ended up falling right back down the second that she tried to put pressure on her ankle again.

"Obviously not fine. Come on, I'm taking you back to your room and get Trudy to wrap you up." Jerome said as he, without difficulty, picked her up in his arms bridal style. She wrapped her arms quickly around his neck. She closed her eyes, fearing that he would accidentally bump her into something. "I'm not going to drop you." He chuckled to her. She slowly opened her eyes. He smiled when he felt her relax in his arms.

"You better not, Jerome." She said to him as he carried her out of the kitchen. Jerome smiled to himself, knowing that the awkwardness from before was over, at least for the time being at least. Aflie frowned as he watched Jerome carry Mina out of the room. Fabian came out of the kitchen once he got the mess cleaned up and sat back down in his seat. Soon Amber came back into the room with a blanket for Alfie.

"What happened to Mina, and why was Jerome carrying her?" Amber asked Fabian as she headed over to Alfie to give him the blanket. She noticed that Alfie wasn't happy at all now. She was only gone for a few minutes, what had she missed in that small amount of time?

"She was trying to get honey for Alfie's toast, but it was too high up and she fell. We think that she twisted her ankle. I don't actually know why Jerome carried her to her room." Fabian filled her in. Amber nodded, but didn't say anything because Mick came into the room then.

"I hope you're pleased with yourself. Alfie is in a lot of pain this morning, and now Mina might have a twisted ankle because she fell trying to make Alfie toast, which he couldn't get himself because of you pushing him." Amber told him as he grabbed the fruit bowl off of the table.

"Oh, please." Mick said to her with an eye roll. He couldn't believe that Amber was still fussing over Alfie, even though it was clear that he was faking it. Fabian reached out to grab something from the basket, but Mick was already leaving the room with it. Nina came running into the room, almost nearly running into Mick. She hurried over to Fabian quickly.

"Can I see your phone?" She asked him as came up next to him and sat down. "Remember the symbols, on the paining?" She asked him as he pulled out his phone from his pocket. He found it and handed it to her as Amber left the room again.

"Well, Trudy says that Miss Mina is to stay home the rest of the day. Lucky girl she is." Jerome announced as he came into the room and went over to Alfie. Nina paused at what she was doing and looked at Fabian worriedly.

"What happened to Mina?"

"Nothing horrible. She fell and twisted her ankle trying to get something from the cabinet. Jerome was . . . nice enough to carry her back to her room and get Trudy." Fabian said as he looked over at Jerome and Alfie, pausing as he saw them slap fiving and whispering to each other. Alfie sure didn't look like he was in a lot of pain to Fabian. "So how's that ankle there, Alfie?" He asked out to them. Nina glanced up to see Alfie jumping back into his spot on the couch.

"Really bad." Alfie said to him, making fake groans of pain. Fabian couldn't believe him. Mina and Amber have been slaving over his every need since they got him home yesterday, Mina actually really injuring herself in the process, and he was faking the whole time, and he still was. Fabian looked back to Nina to see that she was beyond worried now.

"She'll be fine, Nina. Now, what did you want to show me?" Fabian told her, giving her hand a comforting squeeze. Nina shook her head, returning from her thoughts and motioned him to hold on a moment while checked to make sure what she found was right.

"Thought so. Look." She said as she moved the book over a little and showed him the picture on the phone. "Okay, this symbol here, that means terror's tail, or . . . stairs. And then this one means buried or underneath. And this one . . . is the number eight." Nina showed him the symbols in the book that she had gotten for their history project. "So, what if the treasure . . . is buried, underneath, the eighth stair?" Nina whispered to him.

"You think?"

"I don't know. Maybe I've seen too many Indiana Jones movies, but I think it's worth checking out." Nina whispered to Fabian as Amber came back into the room a piece of paper. Jerome motioned to Alfie that Amber was back and he continued his charade of being hurt.

"Here you go, Alfie. Mina wanted you to have this. She said that I can't look at it, only you. Oh, and that Jerome can't see it either." Amber said as she passed him the piece of paper. Jerome rolled his eyes and got up to go put his glass of juice back in the kitchen.

"Thank you, Amber." Alfie said to her as he opened the paper and smiled to himself. It was a get well soon card that Mina had drawn him. It was a cartoon him on the couch with an ice pack on his ankle going 'ow'. It was actually quite good in his opinion. He didn't even know that she could draw. He had to wonder why she didn't want anyone else to see it though.

"Amber told me what Mick did. I think it's pretty terrible." Mina said to Fabian upon watching how Alfie played Amber like a fool. She was equally as mad to know that Mina was being played by his act as well.

"After what Alfie and Amber did, I'm surprise that Mick didn't do more damage." Fabian was surprised to see Nina on Amber side in all of this, even after what she and Alfie did to Mick.

"Why? What did they do?" Nina asked him.

"They went on a date." Fabian told her, leaving her more confused than she was a moment ago. What was Fabian talking about? When did Amber and Alfie go on a date together? He had to be mistaken or something. There was no way that Amber would go on a date with Alfie.

"What? How is that possible? Are you talking about the same Alfie?" Nina asked him, finding the idea of Amber ever going on a date with Alfie hilarious. She's only know them for a short while, but she knew for a fact that it would never happen in a million years.

"It was the night we went up to the attic. Remember we bumped into her in the corridor, and she was all dressed up?" Fabian told her what Jerome and Mick had told him earlier. When Jerome had told him, he wasn't sure it was true or not, but then Mick told him the same thing and he knew that it had to be true.

"Uh, yeah, for her date with Mick, not Alfie." Nina told him, not knowing where he would get that idea of Amber and Alfie in his head.

"What?"

"Yeah. She got a message from Mick, or at least she thought it was from him, arranging to meet in the laundry room, but he never showed. She had Mina and me look at least forty outfits." Nina explained to him. Fabian looked at her confused, but he was figuring out what was going on slowly.

"Really?"

"Yeah. I'm not exaggerating. Forty outfits." Nina said to him with a laugh as she let her head fall onto her hand as she looked at the book in front of them again before looking back over at the group at the couch. Fabian glanced over at Jerome, whom had come back into the room, Alfie, and Amber. "I'm going to check on Mina. I'll see you later in class." Mina said to him after a minute. Fabian nodded and helped her pack up her books. She gave him a small wave before leaving to check on her sister.

Nina had convinced Trudy to let her stay home with Mina. She also managed to get her blanket, pillow, and her bike tools down to Mina's room while Trudy was wrapping up Mina's foot. She was almost happy that Mina had hurt her ankle. It made it a lot easier for her and Fabian to get to the stairs tonight. She was creating a little home made bed on the floor on Mina's room when she came in on her crutches.

"Uh, what are you doing here, Nina? Everyone already left for classes." Mina said her sister as she shut the door behind her. Nina got up off of the floor and went over to help her to her bed.

"Trudy let me stay at the house with you for today. I'm sleeping down here tonight in case you need any help later. Don't want you having to hop all the way down to Jerome's room, now do we?" Nina quickly made something up as she settled Mina down at her bed.

"That's a lie." Mina said to her, causing Nina to freeze. "I would never go to Jerome for help. I'd go to Fabian. I trust him more not to drop me. Though, for a jerk, Jerome's pretty strong." Mina said as Nina finished her bed. She hid her smile as she heard Mina talk about Jerome.

"Yeah, Fabian mentioned that Jerome carried you back to your room. That seems so . . . not Jerome." Nina laughed to Mina. They girls laughed together as Nina got up and dusted herself off. "Well, we have six hours to fit in at least two movies. Which do you want to watch first? _'Vampires Suck'_,or _'Charlie Saint Cloud_'? I recommend comedy before tears, cause tears before comedy takes away the funny." Nina said as she grabbed the two movies from the shoe box that she knew Mina kept her movies in.

"You can never go wrong with that knowledge. _'Vampires Suck' _it is then. Now, get the door for me will you." Mina laughed as she got up with the help of her crutches. Nina shook her head as she went to open the door. She held it open as Mina went by her, shutting the door once she was out.

The two watched both movies on the couch in the living room. It wasn't until hours later when everybody came home to find them both with tear stained cheeks as they credits to _'Charlie Saint Cloud'_ came on. Patricia scoffed and rolled her eyes before leaving up to her room with Mara following behind her.

Amber was just upset that they didn't wait to watch it with her. Fabian, Jerome, and Alfie didn't come back until later. Mick came back a little before them, but just raced upstairs, most likely to go see Amber. Mina was happy to see that. Had Jerome told the truth? Most likely with a little push from Fabian, but he did non the less.

Patricia came back down with her lap top and took a seat in the chair next to the fire place. Jerome and Alfie came running into the room with Alfie play hitting Jerome, Jerome hitting him with a pillow. Mina looked up and caught that Jerome was looking at her while he was wrestling Alfie. "I'll be right back. I have to go see when I can get rid of the crutches." Mina told her sister before leaving the room to go find Trudy. It wasn't long before Fabian came in and joined her.

"So, are we still on for tonight? I brought my bike tools in, and I'm sleeping down here in Mina's room." Nina was excited. She couldn't wait to find out if she was right about the clue or not. She really hoped that she was.

"What for?" Fabian asked her, having forgotten about this morning and what they had discovered, or well, what Nina discovered.

"Prying up floor boards, what else?" Nina giggled to him in a whisper. Mina came back into the room soon after and smiled upon seeing Fabian and Nina laughing together. She took the seat on Fabian's left like always and kept her thoughts to herself. She really hoped that one of them made a move soon, or she'd have to break out her match making kit soon.

"Yes!" Patricia shouted out. "I have an email from Joy!" Patricia told them. She got up and moved in between Jerome and Alfie to show them all. Mara came in from the kitchen upon having heard Patricia. Fabian got up from his seat in between the girls and hurried over to the couch. Mina and Nina shared a look before watching them all huddle up.

"What she say?" Jerome asked her.

"Hi Patricia." Alfie laughed as he guessed what it was going to say first.

"Hang on. I'll read it. Hi, Patricia."

"That answers it. I'm physic." Alfie cut her off.

"Sorry I haven't been in touch. It's been hectic since I left. Anyway, I just wanted to let you know I'm fine. I know it probably seemed a bit weird me disappearing like that, but dad's business went under, and he needed to get me out of there ASAP. I was a bit shocked there myself. Hope you're all okay, and aren't missing me too much. Love Joy." Patricia read out loud to them all. "There's no smiley face at the end. Joy always puts a smiley face. And there's not text speak, it's all written out all properly." Patricia told them, causing them all to roll their eyes at her. She finally hears from Joy, and she's still not satisfied.

"Joy's learned to spell at last. Hurray!" Jerome laughs out.

"And it's from a new email address." Patricia says as she turns back to Mara. Fabian gets up and goes back over to Mina and Nina at the table while Jerome and Alfie head off as well to take their seats at the table.

"Sometimes I use text speak in emails, and sometimes I don't." Mara said to her friend, trying to get Patricia to leave it alone, that it was no big deal. Even Mara was starting to get annoyed with Patricia's obsession with Joy's sudden leaving.

"And a new email address makes sense if she's moved house." Fabian tried to reassure her as well. Patricia sighed and closed her laptop.

"Yeah, you're right. Sorry, I bet I've been driving you all crazy." Patricia said to them as she twisted around to look at them. They all shook their heads, though Nina had to pinch Mina's leg to stop her from saying something mean to Patricia. "Especially you, Nina." Patricia said as she turned to the Martin girls. They could tell that she was actually being nice to Nina.

"Nothing a few years of counseling won't fix." Nina said to her with a shrug.

"I guess I might have taken things a little bit too far."

"It's really okay, Patricia. You were just worried about your friend. I'm just glad she's save. I would have probably done the same as you if Mina left like that too." Nina told her with a small smile, hoping that now things were good between them.

"Can somebody help me take this food to the table please?" Trudy said out from inside of the kitchen. Patricia got up to go help her in the kitchen. Mina let Nina and Fabian do their little whispering together. She turned to Mara to ask her what she had missed during the day, but was stopped before Amber and Mick came into the room.

"Hey guys, guess what?" They all turned to look at the two. "Mick and I have made up." Amber said happily to everyone. Mina smiled at Amber, glad to see that she was happy with Mick again. She glanced at Alfie and saw that he was hurt and frowned. She knew that someone was going to get hurt in the end of all of this, most likely Alfie, and she was right. Though she would have rather that she had been wrong this time.

"Aw, that's great guys." Fabian told them.

"And we're having a party to celebrate tomorrow night. You all are invited, and Mina you can bring your boyfriend. I can't wait to meet him." Amber said excitedly to Mina as the two found their seats at the end of the table.

"Great." Alfie said with a big fake smile. Mina's smile dropped upon realizing that she hadn't check on her plans with Robby, as did Jerome's own expression. She had completely forgotten to check her phone! She still didn't know what Jerome did to her phone when he took her bag.

Well after midnight Nina was still wide awake. She looked up to see if Mina was a sleep yet and was happy to see that she was. She carefully got up and quietly got her bike tools before tip toe-ing over toward the door. She glanced back at Mina one last time to see that she was still sound a sleep before sneaking out of the room. Mina woke up by the sound of the door closing and the small light that had entered the room. She looked down to see that Nina wasn't in her 'bed'.

If she had been in better walking cases, say where she could actually walk around without crutches, she would have gone to look for Nina herself. Since she wasn't though, she decided to just wait until morning to ask Nina about it, or maybe just wait for her to get back to the room since now she can't get back to sleep.

Unknowingly to Mina, Nina and Fabian were on the stairs and trying to pry it open with her tools. They successively got it open, but Nina couldn't see anything inside of it. "There's nothing in there." She whispered to Fabian. She was about to put it back down when he saw something inside.

"No, wait." He said in a whisper to her as he reached inside of the stair. Nina watched as he pulled out a small key that was hidden in the stair. "Look at this." He whispered to her happily.

"I wonder what it's for." Nina whispered to him as she took the key from him. They jumped when they heard Victor coughing upstairs. They needed to get back soon before someone caught them. Mina was a light sleeper, it was a surprise that they had made it this far before getting caught.

"Nina? Fabian? What are you doing?" They jumped out of their skins when they saw Mina standing there. She didn't have her crutches with her and they both could tell that she was putting up with the pain of putting weight on her ankle to come see what was going on. It wasn't as bad as before, but enough to tell her that she'd need the crutches at least another day.

"Mina, what are you doing? I thought you were sleeping?" Nina whispered to her as she started to put away her tools. Fabian hurried down the stairs and let Mina use him to lean on so she didn't hurt her ankle more than it was already. Nina accidentally tripped and dropped her tool box, causing a loud noise to be heard.

"Who's there?" They heard Victor shout out from above. Nina motioned them to hide while she collected the fallen tools. Fabian nodded and helped Mina hobble away down the hall. Nina didn't have time to follow after them or else she'd get caught. She thought quickly and pressed herself against the stair case, hoping to god that he didn't catch her. She held her breath as she heard Victor right above her. She was done for. She bit back her gasp as she heard Victor stumble on the floor board that they had pried up.

Victor, who was in a lot of pain at the moment, put the floor board back together before hopping back up the stairs again to see how bad his ankle was. Nina waited until he was all the way upstairs before hurrying back to Mina's room. She didn't take a breath until she shut the door and leaned against it. She nearly screamed when the light turned on, revealing a very not happy Mina.

"What were you and Fabian doing, Nina?" She asked her cousin, whom she considered her big sister, someone that she thought was someone she could trust to confide in. She thought that Nina thought of her as that person for her as well, but there was obviously something big Nina was hiding from her.


	13. The End Of One The Beginning Of Another

Thanks for the reviews! I do not own anything but Mina, and Robby, everything else belongs to their rightful owners.

Chapter 13

Mina pushed her eggs around on her plate, keeping her head down as the conversations went on all around her. She still couldn't believe what had happened last night. Nina had lied straight to her face. She knew that to some people that might sound like a stupid reason to be upset, but not to her. Nina and her shared everything together, there was no secrets at all between them. She completely trusted Mina with everything, even things that she couldn't imagine herself repeating after it was over and done with.

So why didn't Nina trust her the same way? Had she done something to make Nina doubt that she could keep a secret? Fabian got to know, so why didn't she? She only met Fabian a few days ago, they were practically sisters! The thing that hurt the worse wasn't that she had lied. It was that she could sit on the other end of the table and laugh away, whispering to Fabian, probably about their little secret, knowing that she had lied straight to Mina's face.

_' "What were you and Fabian doing, Nina?" She asked her cousin, whom she considered her big sister, someone that she thought was someone she could trust to confide in. She thought that Nina thought of her as that person for her as well, but there was obviously something big that Nina was hiding from her._

_"I was going to go the bathroom. He was on his way back from the kitchen. I tripped on the stairs and he helped me up. Everyone's been hurting their ankles a lot today, don't you thing? We should get to bed before Victor decides to check the rooms." Nina said quickly to Mina as she laid down in her home made bed and turned around from Mina.'_

"Mina? Mina, are you in there?" Alfie asked her as he waved his hand in front of her face. Mina blinked and looked up from her plate. She looked over at Alfie to see what he wanted. "I wanted to ask you . . . if you would, you know . . ." Alfie started stuttering. Mina glanced up to see Fabian and Mina still whispering. She got up from her seat with out a moments notice, causing everyone to jump.

"I . . . I have to go finish getting, uh, ready." Mina quickly excused herself from the room. She picked up her speed to a jog as she raced out of the room, not caring if her leg was still hurting or not. They all stared after her as she ran out of the room. Nina went to go after her, but Fabian grabbed her wrist to stop her.

"She'll come around. She probably just needs space." Fabian told her, though his head was telling him to do the same as Nina wanted to do. Nina hesitated, but slowly nodded and sat back down in her seat. Fabian glanced around the table to see that Jerome looked tense as well.

"Would anyone like some more eggs?" Trudy asked them all as she came into the room, her smile falling for a second upon seeing Mina's chair now vacant. Fabian motioned to her that he would like some more. She nodded and started scooping some eggs onto his plate.

"Anyways, did you hear about Victor? He fell down the stairs last night, and broke his leg." Patricia broke the awkward silence that had fallen around the table, smiling to herself when she got everyone laughing again.

"Don't exaggerate, Patricia." Trudy scolded her.

"Egg-aggerate. Excellent one, Trudes." Alfie said out to the older woman, his mood lifting up a bit. He had planned on asking Mina to the party tonight, even if she supposedly had a boyfriend, before she ran out of the room. He'd have plenty of chances later though, at least he hoped that he did anyways. Jerome had said he'd take care of this 'boyfriend' of Mina's. Alfie only hoped that Jerome was doing that for him, and not for himself.

"Horrible 'yoke', Alfie." Jerome said to his friend, causing the others around the table to laugh out. Trudy wasn't finding their jokes about Victor very funny though.

"It's a sprained ankle, that's all." Trudy told them, hoping that they stopped with all of the jokes and talked about something else soon. She didn't want Victor to come down and find them all laughing about him.

"A very painful sprained ankle, that's all." Victor said out as he hobbled into the room, eying all of the children present.

"Victor, how do you do that? And with a limp too." Trudy said nervously to him, giving the kids a quick smile. They laughed silently to themselves.

"Someone sabotaged that floor board on purpose." Victor said to them all as he came more into the room, not missing the fact that there was an empty chair present and that one Martin girl was not in the room.

"Oh, Victor. That old board's been like that for ages." Trudy said to him. "I remember telling you about it last year." Trudy said to him before leaving the room quickly.

"Yeah, I . . I've tripped over it quite a few times myself." Fabian spoke up, his eyes locked on Nina's. She looked up at Victor and nodded in agreement. Victor eyed them all, stopping on Mina's empty chair.

"Someone . . . is up to something, and I intend to find out what it is. And who." Victor told them all. "Where's Mina Martin?" He asked them with an accusing tone. Nina's head shot up at the mention of Mina. She gave a quick look to Fabian, who was sharing the same expression. Mina had been at the stairs with them, though she hadn't know what they were doing. She just had bad timing. What if Victor heard her last night?

"She went to her room to finish getting ready. I'll go fetch her for classes, even if I have to carry her there." Jerome said as he pushed his plate away and pushed out of his seat. He left the room, keeping his attention away from Victor as he passed by him. Nina and Fabian shared a look of confusion.

"Very well, you've heard my warning." Victor said to the remaining teens before he hobbled back up to his room upstairs. They all went back to eating their breakfast in silence for a few minutes. They all jumped out of their skins when they heard Mina's scream echo down the hall from her room.

"Jerome! Put me down!" Mina screamed out as Jerome appeared in the the doorway. He had Mina over his shoulder and a grin on his face. He gave them all a quick wave before leaving the Anubis house. Mina was screaming over his shoulder, banging her fists onto his back. The others at the table all looked at each other before bursting out into laughter.

Mina was at her locker when she heard Fabian and Nina whispering about something as they walked by her, which they probably didn't know that they were walking pass her. All she heard was something about some key and the attic. She shut her locker angrily. They were lying to her, and she wanted to know what about.

Jerome and Alfie were coming down the same hallway as Nina and Fabian had come from. They were joking around as usual, or well, they were until they saw Mina's boyfriend going up behind her. Jerome motioned for Alfie to be quiet and just listen as they moved to lean against lockers that weren't even theirs, but were in safe distance of hearing, but not being seen.

Mina was too focused on trying to listen to Nina and Fabian that when she was suddenly lifted up off of the ground she screamed loudly. "Jerome!" She screamed out as she was spun around. Jerome bit back a chuckle when he heard her scream out his name. Once she touched the ground she turned around to see, well . . . not Jerome. "Robby!" She squealed out as she jumped into his arms. She hadn't gotten to see him since he had tried to kiss her and Jerome ruined it.

"Well, they do say that the second time's a charm, luv." Robby laughed out to her, even though she could tell that he wasn't happy that she had thought that he was Jerome. "We're still on for tonight, right? I've been texting you, but you haven't been answering." Robby said to her as he took her bag from her and the two began walking down the hall together.

"Really? I haven't . . ." Mina started to say, trailing off as she looked through her bag. Jerome had said that everything was in there, only her phone was unsurprisingly missing. ". . . I'm going to kill him. Sorry Robby, but it seems that when someone says that everything is there, they don't mean everything." Mina told him with a small laugh. "But, uh, yeah, about the date . . . Amber and Mick are having a party tonight at our house and Amber insists on you coming. I mean, I'm sure you could get out of it if you don't want . . ." Mina's babbling was cut off by Robby pressing his lips onto hers. Mina squeaked in surprised as he pulled back with a lazy grin.

"You're too cute when you babble, luv. I'd love to go to this party with you. I'll be there around . . . seven, 'kay?" Robby told her as they stopped at a bunch of lockers. Mina blushed and nodded. "I'll see you tonight then, babes. I gotta get to practice." Robby said to her before he gave her a quick peck on the cheek, passing her back her bag as he hurried off into the other direction. Mina sighed, a dreamy look now on her face.

"You're too cute when you babble, luv. I'll see you tonight then, babes. Your twit of a boyfriend does know your name, doesn't he Mina?" Jerome said to her as he appeared behind her. Mina jumped and spun around, swatting his arm in the process. He flinched, but just chuckled away.

"Of course he knows my name. He's my boyfriend. Oh, and yeah? Give me my phone back!" Mina said to him as he just chuckled away. Her eyes narrowed up at him in anger, which just made him chuckle more.

"Ah, but has he said your actually name yet? And, you'll get your little phone back once you've seen the light, as they say." Jerome told her, not waiting for an answer before he left her standing there and headed back toward the house. Mina rolled her eyes and followed slowly in his steps, not wanting to fall in step with him, as she headed back to the house as well.

It was almost party time, and everyone was still getting ready. Jerome stood in front of his and Alfie's floor length mirror and slapped on some after shave. Alfie was on his bed tying his shoe. "Why the long face?" Jerome asked his friend as he finished up with the mirror.

"Well, let me see. I'm going back to Amber and Mick's 'getting back together' party, Mina's still going with her boyfriend, and you still owe me a twenty." Alfie explained his 'chipper' mood to Jerome.

"I told you patience. I will deliver. I just need a little bit longer. That's all. In the mean time, look. There are girls in there. So get your best party gear on. Get ready to dazzle." Jerome said to him, trying to give Alfie a convincing pep talk. "And, besides. Mina's so called 'boyfriend' will be gone by tonight, that I will swear to you." Jerome said as he slipped on his vest. Alfie smiled, now getting excited for this party.

"I know exactly what to wear." Alfie said to him before jumping up and heading to the closet to find what he was looking for.

In Mina's room, she was just finishing up on her make up in her mirror when she heard a knock on her door. "Come in!" She shouted out as she put on her blush. She turned around upon hearing her door opening. Her smile seemed to beam as she saw who it was. "Robby! You made it!" She squealed out as she shot up and hurried to jump into his arms. He laughed as he hugged her close before putting her back down on the floor.

"I told you that I would, luv. Now, let me get a good look at you." Robby said as he spun her around. She giggled and blushed as he gave her a slow wolf whistle. She was wearing a pure white halter top and dark blue jeans that hugged her in the right places. "Very hot. Very, _very_, hot, babes." He told her before leading her out of the room, shutting the door behind them. He led her into the living room where the party was already in full swing.

Mina laughed as he spun her around, pulling her close to him as he let his hands slid down to her waist. She giggled and blushed as he whispered something into her ear. Across the room by the refreshment table Jerome and Alfie were watching everyone else. Jerome's eyes hardend when he spotted the two dancing. He whispered something to Alfie before leaving the room.

Mina was having a great time with Robby, who was whispering sweet things into her ear as they danced together. Her smile faded though when she saw Nina run in excitedly over to Fabain. She held up two keys, one Mina had seen her have the night before, and whispered something to Fabian. Soon the two were laughing and taking off out of the room the same time that Jerome was coming back in.

Jerome glanced at Mina to see that she wasn't as happy as she was a moment ago. That was a good thing, at least for him anyways. He noticed two other very nice looking girls as he joined Alfie by the refreshment table. Alfie was enjoying to sight as well. "Which one do you like?" Jerome asked Alfie, trying not to laugh at his friend's Dracula costume.

"Both of them. We ask them to dance." Alfie said excitedly as he 'danced' to the beat of the music. He had earlier been trying to teach Trudy to 'Pop Lock It', but that had been a major fail. He noticed his friend's hesitation and thought of something else. "Unless you'd rather ask Mina to dance?" He suggested to him with an eye wiggle.

"To dance?" He asked before Alfie started doing . . . what ever it was that he was doing. "Alfie, stop it. Stop it. No. No, no, no. Alfie. We're not going to ask them to dance, and I'm not going to ask Mina to dance." Jerome tried to stop Alfie before he embarrassed himself any further.

"Okay. No sweet moves. So what do I do?" Alfie asked Jerome as they looked at the two girl closest to them. Jerome was trying not to think about what Alfie had also suggested. What would he suggest such a thing like that anyways? Besides, he very much doubted that Mina would agree to dance with him.

"I want you to come up with an irresistible pick up line." Jerome turned to him and said, but Alfie was still confused.

"Such as?"

"Babe, if I could rearrange the alphabet, I'd put you and I together." Jerome told him, chuckling when he saw that Alfie was actually considering it.

"Hey, man. You are good!"

"Thank you."

"That's like poetry." Alfie said to him as he clapped Jerome on the back. Jerome just grinned at him, holding back his laughter. He shrugged and motioned for Alfie go on and try it out for himself. "Okay." He said as he reached behind Jerome and grabbed his fake fangs. Jerome chuckled as he watched Alfie approach the brunette. He went over and whispered something in her ear.

Alfie smiled, thinking that he had scored, but only earned a slap in the face, knocking his fangs out of his mouth and over onto Patricia. The room broke out into laughter then. Patricia tossed the teeth back at Alfie with a small chuckle, even if she was still a bit grossed out. Alfie, with his hurt pride walked over to a laughing Jerome. "What was your line?" He asked him, stilling chuckling at his friend's suspense. Alfie seemed to get his happy mood back though.

"Fancy a bite?" He chuckled to Jerome as he held up his fake fangs, sending Jerome into another laughing fit. Mina wanted to go over and check on Alfie, but Robby's grip on her waist wouldn't let her, and she was finding it annoying quickly. Every time she went to move, he kept pulling her back.

"Robby, let me go. I want to go check on Alfie." Mina told him as she tried to pry his hands off of her, but he wasn't letting go of her. Instead he just roughly turned her around to face him. She could clearly see that he didn't like the idea of her going over to Jerome and Alfie.

"You're always with those twits, babes. This is our date, just you and me. The idiot's fine anyways. He and his buddy are laughing away over there. Speaking of the big twit, has he given your phone back to you yet, luv?" Robby asked her as he moved her along to beat of the music. Mina was getting tired of his hands and him calling Jerome and Alfie twits. She didn't know what that meant, but she was pretty sure that it wasn't good.

"No, he hasn't yet, and will you stop calling them that? And get your hands off of me." Mina hissed as him as she tried to pull his hands off of her again, but her efforts were useless. He was stronger than her, and it was starting to really hurt.

"Come on, babes. You can't expect me not to get upset when my girlfriend is letting another guy, Jerome Clarke no less, be all over her." Robby said to her as he pulled on her hips. Mina would have felt badly if it wasn't for the fact that Jerome's words from earlier were ringing in her head. 'Ah, but has he actually said your name yet?' Now that she thought about it, he's been always calling her babes or luv, never just Mina.

"I said to get off of me." Mina growled at him once more, but he didn't listen. She quickly swung her hand, slapping him hard across the face. "My name's Mina, not luv or babe. We're through, Robby. I want you to leave now." Mina said to Robby as she took a step away from him. Robby was about to take a step closer to her when suddenly Mick, Jerome, and Alfie were all standing behind her, ready to kick him out personally.

"I think she told you leave, mate." Mick said as the three boys took a step in front of Mina. Amber, Mara, and Patricia all come up to Mina and stood as a wall in front of her. Robby opened his mouth to say something, but just waved them off and walked out of the Anubis house. The house erupted into a round of applause when they heard the door slam shut.

"Mina, are you okay?" Mara asked Mina as the girls turned their full attention to her. The boys wanted to know if she was okay as well, but Patricia's glare made them pause and wait their turn. The party was in full swing once again, as if nothing as had just happened a moment ago.

"I . . . I'm fine, Mara. No worries. I'll, um, just go to my room for the rest of the night. Congrats Amber, you too Mick." Mina said quickly to them before shrugging off their hands and squeezing through the crowd. Jerome rolled his eyes when no one went after her and decided to go after her himself. He caught up to her just before she left the room, grabbing onto her wrist and spinning her around.

"One dance, just one, then you can go to your room. You haven't danced with a real English man, and it would be a shame not to when there's one right here in this very room." Jerome said to her as he slowly pulled her back inside of the room. He was glad to see that she wasn't fighting him on it, though that might also be a bad thing.

"Really? Where is he? I might want to dance with him now." She forced a laugh and smile as Jerome rolled his eyes at her. They were about to start dancing when the music suddenly shut off. They turned to see Victor standing in the door way. He just stared at the room for a moment before heading upstairs. A second later the music returned and it was now a slow song.

Jerome and Mina looked at each other hesitantly before she wrapped her arms around his neck. He slowly put his hands on her hips, keeping his eyes on her as he did. She flinched at first, but soon relaxed as she placed her head on his chest and the two swayed back and forth to the music. The flinch made him wonder just exactly how tightly Robby was holding her.

The two danced like that for what seemed like forever, they didn't even notice the change in the beat of the music. They jumped apart though when Alfie came running in wearing a deer head. Mina covered her mouth, not knowing if she'd rather be upset over the poor animal, or laugh at how silly Alfie was acting. He raced around the room, getting into Mara and Amber's face. He ran up to Mina, but Jerome pushed him a back a little so he didn't get in her face.

"Enough!" They all jumped when Victor appeared inside of the room. "Turn that racket off!" He growled at Fabian and Nina. Fabian hurried to shut off the radio. Mina hadn't even seen them come back down to the party. "Anyone who doesn't live here, out! The party is over." Victor continued to shout as people hurried to leave. "And, you." He growled out as he pointed to Alfie. "How dare you mess about with that. Take it off your head immediately!" Victor said to Alfie, who was trying to get it off, but found that it was stuck. "Did you hear what I said?" He growled as he hobbled over to a struggling Alfie.

"Hold on! It's stuck!" Alfie said out to Victor as he kept trying to get the head off of him. The group left broke out into laughter over this.

"Stop laughing!" Victor shouted out as he spun around, swinging his cane around as he did. Mina cringed and moved closer to Jerome beside her. The room quickly grew silent. "I have had enough of you, vermin. Who has got the spare key to the attic? Hmm? I know that somebody's been up there. Tonight as a matter of fact. Oh, yes. You think you are all so clever, but you are not as careful as you may think. Who has it!" Victor shouted out, making everyone jump in fright.

"It's really hot in here. I can't breath." Alfie said from inside of the deer head.

"Well then we will just have to saw it off then, shan't we." Victor said to Alfie as he hooked his cane around Alfie's neck. Mina yelped, hiding her head in Jerome's shirt quickly. She couldn't watch Victor possibly hurting Alfie, or anyone else in this room either.

"Saw?"

"Oh, yes. The rest of you wait there!" Victor yelled back at them as he pulled Alfie out of the room. Mina lifted her head from Jerome's shirt and blushed as she took a step back from him. She looked past Jerome to see that Nina and Fabian were whispering. She could tell right off the bat that Nina and Fabian had been the ones going up to the attic. What for? She didn't know that yet.

Before she had a chance to say anything to Nina, she was leaving the room, most likely to go and try to put it back with out being noticed by Victor. "I can't believe that she's been going up there. She lied straight to my face." Mina said more to herself than to anyone around her, but Jerome had heard her anyways.

He didn't say anything, but he could see that it was Nina's lying that had been bothering her earlier. Nina was only gone a couple of minutes, but it felt a lot longer than that to everyone else. "I left it on the floor right inside the doorway." Nina whispered to them as she moved back over to Fabian.

"You left it on the floor?" Jerome asked her as he left Mina's side. He knew that Nina was new here and all, but he didn't know that she was stupid. Victor wasn't going to believe that it just 'appeared' suddenly on the floor suddenly, especially after he knows that someone had been up there earlier.

"I know it's not the best idea in the world, but if he has it he can't search us for it. Trust me guys." Nina tried to explain to the other. Nina looked at Mina for help, but even she wasn't stepping up to help her. Fabian was though, he was stepping in front of Nina protectively.

"And why should we take the rap, for you?" Jerome said to her, not wanting to get in trouble for something that he had no part of doing. Well, he did, but he had thought that Nina put the key back a long while ago.

"Why?" Fabain said as he took a step forward. "Because you guys are the ones that made Nina steal the key in the first place." Fabian said as he walked around the group. Mina looked at the floor, not wanting to catch either of Nina or Fabian's eyes. They all looked to see Victor coming back down into the room.

"Very clever indeed. Hmm? Who, put this, outside the door of my office, hmm? Who? Was it you?" He asked Jerome, who head his head down.

"No."

"You?" He asked Fabian next.

"No."

"You? You?" He continued down the line to Mina and Amber.

"No." They both said to him in unison.

"I'm loosing patience. Mick?" Victor continued on.

"No."

"You two?" He asked Patricia and Mara.

"No." They both said to him in unison as they shook their heads. Victor spun on his heads to face Nina right beside him, holding up the key in his hand.

"You?" He asked her.

"No." Nina said to him, but changed her mind at the last second as he turned around. "Yes!" She confessed to him. Fabian and Mina's eyes widened in fear. Nina was done for if one of them didn't do something quick.

"Ah ha." Victor turned back toward her, thinking that he had his culprit.

"No." Fabian spoke out, not wanting Nina to get in trouble. Victor turned to face Fabian. "She's covering for me. I did it." He quickly lied, keeping his eyes locked on Nina. Mina bit her lip. She should have been the one that was covering for Nina, not Fabian.

"You?"

"Yeah, guilty as charged." Fabian said sadly.

"No! He's lying. It was me." Mina found herself shouting out. Nina and Fabian couldn't believe that she was going to cover for them both. She had every right not to, but she still was. Jerome knew Mina was bound to do something stupid the second that Nina said anything. She had just put her neck on the line for people who have been lying to her, now he feared that no one would cover for Mina.

"Make your minds up. Who was it?" Victor said to the group, getting tired of this little game that they were doing.

"Me." Mick spoke out, giving Mina a small smile. Amber was hardly jealous of that, she was about to do the same thing for Mina. Both Amber and Mara looked at Mick in surprise. They didn't expect Mick out of everyone to stick up for Mina. "I did it." He continued on.

"What?" Victor was getting confused now, and he didn't like it.

"I did it. Total thiefy." Mick said to Victor again.

"Actually, he's lying. It was me, Victor." Mara stepped up next to take the blame. Amber couldn't believe her! If anyone was going to stick up for her boyfriend it should be her. Though she's not surprised after she over heard Mara tell Patricia that she fancies Mick.

"Oh, yeah . . . I mean, no. It wasn't her. It was me. I love to steal keys, so much." Amber spoke out next, catching Mara by surprise since they had been fighting.

"Actually, it was me." Patricia surprised them all, even herself a little bit, but she loved to make Victor mad. Especially since she thinks that he had something major to do with Joy leaving with out a word. She gave a shocked Nina a small smile.

"Stop playing me for a fool. Jerome, I know that I can relay on you. Who was it?" Victor turned to Jerome, whom had never lied to him before. Jerome didn't have to look back at Mina to know that she was biting her lip. It was something that he come to know that she did when she was nervous. He glanced at Nina quickly to see her mouthing to him 'please'. He glanced back at Mina to see her watching him with those eyes that made his heart jump before looking back at Victor.

"It was me." He said to Victor through clenched teeth. Nina opened her eyes in surprise as Mina bit back her gasp. The two shared a confused look before looking back at Jerome and Victor.

"That is it. That is it! You are all grounded for the entire weekend." Victor shouted out before he, as fast as he actually could, stormed out of the room. Mina looked at a clearly depressed Jerome in shock. He had lied to Victor, sure he wasn't happy about it, but he had done it. The other girls broke out in smiles. Jerome patted Fabian angrily on the back before leaving the room. Mina felt bad when everyone else laughed, taking pleasure in making Victor mad.

It was right before 10 when Jerome heard a soft knocking on his door, but he didn't pay any attention to it. It was probably Fabian coming to 'thank' him for helping protect Nina. "Jerome? Alfie?" He shot up when he heard her voice instead though. He turned to see Mina slipping inside of the room.

"Alfie's still scrubbing the toilet, I'm afraid." Jerome said to her as he sat up straight on his bed. Mina nodded and closed the door to the room behind her and leaned against it. "What do you need, Mina?" He asked her tiredly. He still wasn't pleased with the out come of tonight's party. Well, he was until Victor decided to crash it.

"Poor, Alfie. I, uh, just wanted to, you know, thank you for earlier." Mina said shyly to him as she kept as much distance between her and Jerome as possible. For some reason she couldn't get him out of her head, especially after that dance that they had shared earlier.

"Don't thank me. Really, Mina, don't." Jerome said to her. She could tell that he wasn't kidding by the serious look in his eyes.

"Not just because of the Nina thing, though I'm very proud of you for standing up against Victor, but I meant about with the Robby thing. You didn't let him ruin my night, and you were . . . oh god I can't believe I'm saying this, you were right." Mina said to Jerome as she unknowingly walked closer to him. Jerome actually perked up at that. She actually told him that she enjoyed his company, and that he was right.

"Well, I got to dance with a beautiful girl out of it, and scare the hell out of that twit. You hit him pretty hard, I could see the hand print on his cheek. What did he do to deserve a slap that hard, might I ask?" Jerome asked her as she sat down beside him on his bed.

"Well, uh, he was mad . . . because of you. He was calling you and Alfie twits, and idiots." Mina whispered shyly to him, her voice so soft that he almost didn't hear her. He looked at her stunned. Her boyfriend was mad at her . . . because of him? Normally his ego would have had a good boost to that, but when he looked down at Mina, part of her top had risen up. He could see a bruise forming on her skin. He didn't know how to react, he wanted to punch that twit senseless though.

Mina saw that Jerome was glaring at something. She followed his eye sight to see that he was staring at the bruise that was darkening on her skin. She quickly pulled down the bottom of the shirt to cover it up. She knew that Alfie would be coming back any minute now, she needed to leave soon or else she'd be forced to answer questions that she didn't have answers to.

She quickly leaned over and kissed Jerome on the cheek, her lips lingering on his skin a moment longer than they should have. She pulled back slowly, her eyes locked with his, trying to figure out what he was thinking. Jerome was about to leaned forward to kiss her for real. "Hey, Jer . . . oh! Hey, Mina. What are you doing here?" Alfie came into the room, surprised to see Mina and Jerome together and so close. Had he interrupted something? They had jumped apart so quick when he came inside the room.

"Oh, uh, nothing. I, um . . . uh, just wanted to tell you guys, uh, thanks for helping out Nina tonight." Mina said to themas she moved over to the door way. Jerome thought quick and pulled her phone out from under his pillow.

"Mina, looks like you learned something tonight, don't you think?" Jerome said to her as he tossed the phone to her. She caught with a small stumble, shooting him a silent confused look. He just shrugged in return though.

"So anyways, um, thanks. Bye!" Mina stuttered as she hurried out of the room and back to her own. She didn't stop until she got to her own room and leaned against the door. What had almost happened back there if Alfie hadn't come in the room when he did?

Jerome laid back on his bed, his hand subconsciously touching his cheek. Alfie was going on about how Mina must have been waiting to thank him, since he had made the distraction which gave Nina the time to put the key back. Jerome wasn't even paying attention though. His thoughts were focused on Mina and what had almost happened just then. What had almost happened? He had to wonder if he'd ever get that close to kissing Mina again, he sure hoped so.


	14. Awkward Bumps In The Road

Thanks for all of the reviews! This is mostly a filler chapter, but an update no less lol. I do not own anything in this fiction, besides Mina, everything, including Jerome sadly, belongs to their rightful owners.

Chapter 14

Enjoy!

Mina yawned and stretched as she walked down the hallway toward the kitchen. Her hair was a big mess, more than it usually was in the morning. Her t-shirt, or well, Fabian's t-shirt, covered her cheering shorts. Fabian had lent her one of his shirts a few days ago because he knew that she planned to paint her room this Sunday. All of her clothes were not painting safe, so he gave her one of his old ones.

She hadn't gotten much sleep last night. When she had gotten back to her room, she couldn't stop thinking about what had almost happened with Jerome in his room. What even almost happened between them? She didn't even know. She couldn't even keep focus long enough to even think about more than the fact that she had kissed Jerome, on the cheek, but still.

She only closed her eyes for a second, and just her luck in the second she managed to bump into something. Her eyes shot open as she started to fall back, only to be caught by a pair of arms. She looked up to see that it was Jerome. He took the sight of her in, and even with messy morning hair and no make up, she still caused his heart to jump. He didn't know when this feeling in him had started, the whole heart racing thing, but all he knew was that it did.

"I, uh, is that Fabian's shirt? Uh, um . . . never mind. I was just going. Enjoy your breakfast, Mina." Jerome said quickly as he set her up right on her feet and hurried to leave the house. Mina watched as he practically raced out of the house, away from her. It was like he was running away from someone, well in Jerome's case, someone being Victor. Did she scare him that badly? Did he hate her now after last night? They had all gotten him grounded, and not to mention on Victor's bad list.

"Mina?" Mina looked up to see that Nina was watching her worriedly. She should hate Nina right now. She's been lying to her for days now. She had let Fabian, someone that they had just met, in on her secret before her own flesh and blood, her own sister. Yet? She couldn't hate Nina, even if she really wanted to. "Why dont you sit down, and I'll get you some food. You look like you could use some food in you." Nina said as she motioned Mina to sit in the seat next to Fabian before she jogged into the kitchen to prepare a plate for her sister.

"So, Mina, I heard you were in Jerome and Alfie's room before lights out last night. What for?" Patricia asked her when she saw that Nina was out of the room. Mina's head shot up as she looked at the others at the table, her eyes stopping when she spotted Alfie. What did he tell Patricia and the others? Was that why Jerome left the second that she got into the room?

"No reason. I wanted to thank them both for sticking up for Nina against Victor about the key thing. Actually, I wanted to thank all of you guys. You didn't have to do that, but I'm glad you did." Mina told them all, locking eyes with Patricia to silently tell her that she especially was thankful to her.

"That's very good and all, but Alfie said that you left when he came back, and that it was just you and Jerome in the room. He said you two were _very_ close when he walked in." Patricia said to her, emphising on the fact that she thought that something more had happened. "Is that Fabian's shirt?" She asked her upon seeing the familar shirt on Mina. Mina blushed and looked down at her hands on her lap. Fabian saw that she wasn't in the mood to talk, and that Patricia was not helping at all.

"Back off it, Patricia. I let her borrow my shirt because she wanted to paint her room this Sunday. And besides, if she says nothing happened between her and Jerome, then I believe her. You all should as well." Fabian spoke up for Mina. She kept her gaze down, her blush getting worse after Fabian's words.

"And, besides, this is Jerome's we're talking about. If something had happened, wouldn't you think that he would have made a point to gloat about it before he left?" Nina said out to the others as came back in from the kitchen and set down Mina's plate in front of her before she returned to her seat on the other side of Fabian. Mina was getting annoyed that they all thought of Jerome that way. He wasn't as heartless as they all made him out to be.

They all sat in silence for a few minutes, no one daring to break the awkwardness that had taken over the room. "I'm going to be late if I don't get ready soon. Excuse me." Mina picked up her plate, which the others couldn't help but see that it was barely picked at, and put in the kitchen sink before hurrying off back to her room to get ready for the day. They others stared after her, but didn't think to go after her.

Mina was sitting up on one of the small walls around one of the buildings. She was sketching away in her book. Her focus was on Jerome and Alfie joking off a bit away from her. Alfie was wearing his wolf mask and messing around while Jerome just laughed away. She had to admit that they filled up a lot of her sketch book. Everything they did, or mostly everything that they did, inspired her to draw them.

She looked up from her book to see that Alfie was leaving and heading off some where without Jerome. She frowned, her shoulders dropping in disappointment. Luckily she was close enough to finishing, just needed to add in a few more details on Alfie's clothes. Her eyes wondered back to Jerome and saw that he was talking to Patricia and Mara now. She could tell that Jerome wasn't as nervous as he was when she had bumped into him earlier. Was it because he didn't know she was near by? She shook her head, ridding herself of those thoughts as she soon returned her attention back down to her drawing.

She smiled to herself as she finished up her newest sketch. She flexed her fingers slowly, knowing that they would cramp soon if she didn't. This was probably the only part of drawing a lot. She got hand cramps that seemed to never want to go away. She gasped as her book was suddenly pulled out of her hands. "Hey!" She hissed out as she looked up to see that it was just Nina and Fabian.

"Since when do you draw, Min? And, wow, that really looks a lot like Alfie and Jerome." Nina said to her as she looked over the drawing that Mina had just drawn of Alfie and Jerome goofing off. Mina just glared at her sister. Where did she get the nerve to just pull that out of her hands like that?

"Well, we all have our secrets, don't we Nina?" Mina said angrily to her sister as she snatched back the sketch book before Nina or Fabian could look at anymore of her drawings. Nina frowned, knowing that Mina was referring to her keeping a secret herself from Mina. Fabian looked between the two girls and frowned as well. He was close to both of the girls, though more so to Nina than Mina, but close friends to both of the girls. He didn't like seeing them fighting at all.

"Look, Mina. We're sorry about last night. We should have gotten the key back before Victor knew it was gone." Fabian stepped in for Nina, hoping to ease the tension between the two girls. Mina rolled her eyes at them though, and hopped down from her spot on the ledge as she hid her book away inside of her bag.

"Yeah, what ever. I'll see you two in class." Mina said to them before brushing pass them to leave them behind as she headed inside of the school. Nina looked back at her helplessly. She so badly wanted to let Mina in on the secret, but she didn't know if she wanted to risk her sister's safety. Things were getting dangerous, and she didn't want Mina involved if it gets any worse. She jumped when Fabian put his hand on her shoulder.

"I'll be okay, Nina. She just needs to cool down some." Fabian told her, trying to be some sort of a comfort to her. Nina gave him a small smile back, silently thanking him before leading the way inside of the building. Fabian soon fell into step with her as they entered the hallway inside of the school. They still had to figure out what those cylinder things that they found in the attic were for.

Mina was beyond upset. Nina was still keeping her secret, even though Mina's pretty sure that Nina knows that she knows something is up. Didn't Nina trust her anymore? Was Fabian making her not tell her? Mina quickly shook her head at that thought. No, Fabian wasn't like that at all. He would be encouraging Nina to tell her, wouldn't he?

Oofgh!

Mina stumbled back, her things dropping to the floor when she collided with someone. She had been so wrapped up in her thoughts that she hadn't been paying attention to where she was going. "I'm so sorry about that . . ." She said as she looked up to see who she had bumped into. ". . . Robby." Her expression dropped at the sight of him. She felt the sudden urge to run, but his sudden grip on her arm kept her from doing that.

"Babes, wait. Just let me explain. I'm sorry about what happened at the party, luv." Robby tried to explain to her, but Mina wasn't buying any of it. Robby's grip on her arm was proof enough to her. Though that wasn't the only proof that she had, she couldn't help but notice that he still hadn't called her by her name yet.

"It's Mina, and let me go, Robby." Mina said to him as she tugged on his grip, but his grip just tightened on her arm, causing her to wince in pain. "Let go." Mina said to him again through gritted teeth, but Robby just shook his head. He wasn't going to take no for an answer with Mina.

"I said I was sorry, babes. Isn't that enough for you to forgive and forget?" Robby whispered to her, trying to keep his anger in check in front of her as he pulled her closer to him roughly. Mina let out a whimper at his grip, wishing for nothing more than for him to just let her go and to leave her alone.

"You're not sorry, Robby. Now, let me go." Mina told him as she tugged on his grip. Robby wasn't letting her go though, and her arm was beginning to really hurt now because of his grip. Robby didn't seem to notice though, or maybe he just didn't even care, she really didn't know.

"I think that she said to let her go, you bloke." Mina was shocked when Patricia stepped in between Robby and Mina, breaking his hold on her in the process. "I'd leave if I was you. I'm fairly sure that Jerome and Mick wouldn't be happy to hear that you were bugging Mina again." Patricia said smugly to Robby. He opened his mouth to say something, but just waved his hand at them and scoffed before walking away. Once he was gone, Patricia turned to look at Mina. "Are you alright, Mina?" She asked her as she gave her a quick look over.

"I'm fine, probably just a bruise." Mina brushed it off as nothing, which it really was, as she and Patricia picked up her things. Patricia nodded and handed Mina her school bag before trying to leave. "Patricia!" Mina blurted out, causing Patricia to stop and turn to look at her. "Thank you, for the back up I mean." Mina said with a soft smile to the other girl. Patricia shrugged it off as it was nothing before leaving for class.

Mina was on her own for lunch. She had a major French test coming up soon and she was cramming at the last second. A second language was never her best subject, probably one of her worse. She was laying out on the grass, boredom coming over her as she was flipping through her French book. There was only so much gibberish that she could understand at one time. "Hey, Mina. I see you too aren't ready for the French test." Mina looked up to see Mick holding a soccer ball under his arm. He was still sweating a little from the game that he just played with a few of the other guys.

"Uh, yeah. Never could manage another language. I hardly even understand English sometimes." Mina said as she laughed to him. She set her pen down inside of her book in case it decided to read ahead with out her reading along with it.

"Do you mind if I study with you? I'm afraid that I didn't study as much as I would have liked to." Mick asked her shyly, hoping that she said yes. Mina made a face, wanting him to think that she was seriously thinking about it. She fought back a giggle when she saw him get more nervous.

"Well, since you're asking me so nicely? Why not? Come on, lets see who knows more." Mina laughed as she motioned Mick to take a seat with her. He smiled and nodded as he settled down on the ground with her. Mina sat up, dusting off her jacket as she got comfortable in a position where both her and Mick could see the book. The two studied for the rest of lunch break, making occasional jokes here and there when one of the pictures were too funny not to laugh at.

They could faintly hear the bell, meaning that they had twenty minutes to get back to class. Why they had a warning bell that early? Mina had no idea. Mick jumped up quick to his feet as Mina gathered up her things. Mick held out a hand to her and helped her up onto her feet. "Well, I should go get in a quick shower before class starts again. I'll be seeing you in French then, Mina." Mick said as he hurried off, waving to her quickly before picking up his pace to a jog toward the house. Mina gave him a short wave back before heading back inside of the school.


	15. Nightmare Become Reality

Thanks for the reviews! OMG the finale! I was loving Jerome, and I have some serious ideas for what's to come for Mina and Jerome and the others! I do not own anything, besides Mina, everything else belongs to their rightful owners.

Chapter 15

Mina was getting in last minute studying before class actually started. Mara had explained to her that with these tests you get head phones and listen to what the French people are saying. She thought that in America the French tests were hard, obviously she was very, very, wrong. She definably didn't want to the one person to miss a question and ask for it to be replayed. Talk about embarrassing.

It wasn't long before Mrs. Andrews came into the room. "Books away, head phones on. We are about to begin." She said as she moved behind her desk. Mina took a deep breath and closed her book shut. She could pull this off, some how. She put her book inside of her bag and grabbed a pencil from inside of it before sitting up straight. She slipped on her head phones as Mrs. Andrews started to pass out the test.

Mina looked up the same time as Mick did and the two shared a look, silently wishing the other good luck on the test. She saw Mick give Mara and Amber the same look. Mina shook her head, that boy had no idea what he was doing to those girls. Amber had switched rooms with Patricia because, well . . . Mina didn't actually know why. Nina hadn't told her that much more than the fact that Mara and Amber were fighting and Amber asked Patricia to switch rooms with her.

"Are we all ready?" Mrs. Andrews asked as she finished passing out the test. Mina and a few others looked up at the sound of the room opening. Nina and Fabian were finally here, and just in time before the test had started. "You're late." Mrs. Andrews said to them. Mina couldn't help but wonder where they were together and why they were so nervous. "Have you seen Patricia on your travels?" Mrs. Andrews asked them. Mina watched them curiously as they took their seats in the front and got ready for the test.

"No." Fabian told her.

"Right, so she'll be getting an 'F' then. We'll start the test." Mrs. Andrews said as she pressed 'play' on the machine. Mina quickly got back into French mode when she heard the voice talking. She found that she was right about something. This was not going to be a walk in the park. She was happy to say that she did actually know some of what the voice was saying though.

"Uh, Miss?" Mina, Mara, and Jerome looked back to see that Mick was the one to speak up.

"Yes, the test already started, Mick. Quiet please." Mrs. Andrews told him. The three went back to their own tests, but both Mara and Mina kept an ear out to listen to Mick though.

"Yeah, I know. I'm sorry, but it's just . . . I didn't catch the last bit of the first question. Can you start it again please?" Mick told her. Jerome chuckled to himself, but went back to his own test. Mina and Mara both felt bad for Mick. Mina was so sure that she'd be the one to ask Mrs. Andrews to repeat a question, but in reality it was Mick.

"You know the rules." Mrs. Andrews told him. Mick sighed, frowning as he went back to his test. Mina went back to focusing on her own test. Unknown to her, Mara pulled her own test back to reveal that she had another underneath it. Jerome glanced over, taking a double take when he saw Mara having two tests. He smirked when he saw her writing down Mick's name on the new one.

Mara looked over at him and he looked back at his own test. Mara started to check off the right answers on the test with Mick's name on it. Jerome grinned to himself, shaking his head as he watched Mara. Mina glanced up and saw Jerome watching Mara with a grin. She would have thought that he was cheating, but he wasn't looking at her test with that grin of his. He was watching Mara herself. Jerome noticed Mina watching him and went back to his own test, satisfied in knowing that he finally had something over Mara Jaffray.

The rest of the test went by quickly, and soon the bell was ringing, signaling the end of the test and class. Mina took a deep breath, she had known more than she thought that she would. "Okay, times up. Quietly." Mrs. Andrews said as the class started getting up and passing in their tests before leaving the room. Mina passed in her test just before Mick did.

"Did studying with me help at all?" Mina asked him with a shy smile as they went to leave the room. The look on Mick's face said it all though. It hadn't helped him at all. Mina glanced back to see that Mara and Jerome were the last two in the room. She looked back up at Mick and gave him a fake smile as they left the room together.

Mara, glanced up to see that Mina and Mick were out of the room. While no one to her knowledge was looking, she swapped the test she did with Mick's name on it with Mick's actual test. She crumbled it up and tossed it in the trash can as she left the room. Patricia raced up to Mara and linked arms with her. "Where have you been?" Mara asked her. The last time that she had seen Patricia, she had went to go get something really quick at the house.

"Come with me. Keep walking, and don't say anything." Patricia said to Mara as she led her toward the girl's bathroom. Mara looked at her friend confused, but did as she said. What had happened to Patricia since the last time that she saw her? Jerome took the forgotten test out of the trash can and gave it a quick look over. He chuckled to himself when he found that he was right, and now he had proof.

Mina looked around and saw Mick and Amber talking, he looked upset but Amber seemed to be comforting him. Mina smiled, those two were meant for the other. They were like high school romance cliche. Her smile faded when she saw Jerome pop up though. "Wouldn't worry about it, Mate. Something tells me you're gonna do a little better than you think you will." She strained to hear him, but was still confused as she watched him walk off in the same direction that Mara and Patricia had gone.

"What was that about?" Mina asked Mick and Amber as she walked up to them. Mick shrugged that he didn't have a clue. She knew that Amber was talking, but she zoned her out. She had a feeling that Jerome was up to something, she just didn't know what yet. She wanted to find out though. "Sorry, Ambs, but I'll see you guys later. I gotta go do something. I'll see you guys back at the house." Mina said, cutting off Amber before heading off in the direction Jerome had left in.

"Well, that was rude." Amber said with a huff to Mick as they watched Mina hurry off somewhere. Mick rolled his eyes at Amber and closed her locker for her before leading her off the other way.

Mina didn't actually know where she was going, just the general direction. She didn't even know why she was trying to corner Jerome into telling her something, that might not even be something at all. After this morning's awkwardness she didn't know why she was looking for Jerome, instead of trying to avoid him, which is what he seems to be doing with her.

Mina stopped walking, her head had a good point there. Why was she following Jerome? She should be running in the other direction of him after last night. They had . . . what? Almost kissed in his room? She didn't mean for that to happen, she just went in to thank him, that was it. Her head was still spinning from that slow dance too. Why had out of everyone Jerome been the one to keep her enjoying the party? Why had she agreed to dance with him? It was like it was only them in the room, and she hated to admit it, but she actually liked it.

What is she thinking? Did she just say, or well think, that she actually liked dancing with Jerome? Mina was pulled out of her thoughts when she felt a body collide with hers. Mina yelped as she flew to the floor. She looked up to see that it was Patricia who had walked into her. She looked beyond mad. She was storming off, most likely not even knowing that she had walked into her.

She looked at the bathroom door confused. Why was Patricia so upset. Mina got up and brushed herself off before moving closer to the door. She pressed her ear to the door and listened for a moment. She could hear voices inside. She couldn't hear exactly what they were saying, but she could tell who they belonged to. She needed to see them for herself though.

She pushed the door open just a smidge so she could peek inside. From where she was she could clearly see the back of Jerome's head and Mara. They were standing closely together and were whispering about something. Mara looked very nervous, biting her lip as she looked up at Jerome. Mina couldn't believe it. She silently closed the door and took off running. Since when did Jerome and Mara even talk to the other? Mina's never even seen them in the same room besides during a meal.

Mina was too busy with her thoughts that she didn't even realize that she was about to collide with someone else until it was too late. She jogged right into someone's chest. She felt two hands grab a hold of her arms to sturdy her. "Mina? Mina what's wrong?" Mina looked up to see that it was Fabian that she had walked into. She honestly didn't know what was wrong with her. It wasn't like she and Jerome were a thing, let alone liked each other. He was free to go sneaking around with Mara as much as he pleased.

"I . . I . . . I don't know." Mina said to him as she shook her head back and forth. Fabian just gave her a concerned curious look. Mina's been acting weird all day, but this was making him worry. Mina looked really upset, and she didn't look like she was lying about not knowing what about either.

"I've got to get some books from the library, but how about I meet you back at the house? I'll find Nina, and we can all hang out. I don't think we've all hung out yet, have we?" Fabian suggested to her with a shy smile. Mina hesitated, but nodded anyways, causing Fabian to smile down at her. "Okay, I'll meet you back at the house then." Fabian said to her before he headed off toward the library. Mina smiled softly at him before leaving to go back to the house.

Mina was sitting on the stairs of the Anubis house. She didn't dare go into the living room. Mara was in there, doing Jerome's chores. She had been in there for no more than ten minutes before she just couldn't be in the same room as them. Mara would look down at a wrestling Jerome and Alfie, and Jerome would look up at her with a grin. She just didn't understand why she was so mad about them being around each other.

Mina didn't even realize that she wasn't alone anymore until she heard struggling. She looked up to find Fabian with an arm load of big books, trying to close the door with his foot. She covered her mouth, fighting back the urge to giggle upon seeing him do a nose dive, his books flying everywhere on the floor. "Fabian, god, are you okay?" Mina was trying her best not to giggle as she hurried over to help Fabian collect his things and get back up on his feet.

"Thanks . . . Mina." Fabian said to her as his attention fell on the railing to the stairs. "Uh, I'll meet in the other room, yeah? I've got this covered." Fabian said to her, hoping that she listened and didn't question him. Mina looked back at the living room and bit her lip. She really didn't want to go in there, especially right after she left.

"That's fine, Fabian. I think that I'll just head down to my room and do some homework. Tell Trudy that I won't be having dinner, please and thank you, Fabian!" Mina said as she handed him the books in her hands before racing off down the hall to go to her room. Fabian watched her confused for a second, waiting for her to be out of sight before he got a closer look at the railing. It was the same shape as Nina's locket! Fabian went into the living room to see where Nina was, but stopped when he saw Mara setting the table.

Wasn't it Jerome and Alfie's turn to set the table for supper? Why was Mara doing them of all people though? He glanced down quickly to see that Jerome and Alfie were wrestling on the floor. "I thought Alfie and Jerome were on chores today?" Fabian asked Mara, who looked really nervous at the moment.

"Oh, no. It's my night." Mara quickly lied to him, looking down to see that Jerome was grinning up at her as he had Alfie in an arm lock. "They're . . . busy anyway." Fabian could tell that Mara wasn't completely being honest, but he didn't have time to worry about someone else at the moment. He had to show Nina the stairs, and he was still a little worried about Mina. She was acting really out of character this whole day.

"Yeah, really busy." Fabian said sarcastically to her before he left to go talk to Nina, who he just spotted on the couch reading a book. "Uh," Fabian started to say as he came up behind Nina, but was cut off by Patricia, who was glaring at Nina on the couch across from her.

"Don't you do anything but work?" Patricia said bitterly to Nina. Nina rolled her eyes. Patricia did know that this was a school, right?

Mina knew that she had said that she would be in her room for the rest of the night, but the need of thirst was too great to ignore. Curse her dry throat. She walked into the room just as Nina and Fabian were leaving. She really had to wounder where those two wondered off to sometimes.

She went straight into the kitchen and poured herself a glass of water. Mara was setting up the table for supper, and Mina really didn't want to bump into Mara right now. She drank her water quickly, putting it into the sink before hurrying to leave the room again. She froze the second that her eyes landed on Jerome though. He was sitting with Patricia and the two were whispering about something.

She sighed, not even going to bother worrying about it before leaving the room again. Mara watched Mina confused, why was she determined to stay out of the room and away from everyone else? She's been acting weird since the party last night. Mara glanced at Jerome to see that he was still talking to Patricia about something. She put down the last plate on the table before hurrying out of the room and followed after where she had seen Mina go.

Mara came up to Mina's bedroom door and hesitated before she lifted her closed fist to knock on the door. Inside of the room, Mina was sketching something when she heard a soft knocking on her door. She bit her lip, hoping that it wasn't Nina or Fabian. She wasn't exactly mad at them, but she knew that they were hiding something from her and she couldn't trust them completely. It killed her to know that she couldn't trust Nina, but it was true. Nina was hiding something big from her and it was breaking the trust that she had for her.

"Mina, it's Mara." Mina froze upon hearing Mara's voice. What did she want? She didn't get a chance to do anything because Mara peeked her head inside of the room. "Sorry to barge in, but I was wondering if everything was alright? You've been acting strange today is all." Mara said to Mina as she came inside of the room and closed the door behind her. Mina didn't know what to say to her though. Could she actually tell Mara that she may have a problem with her and Jerome sneaking around? Then again, why would she? Jerome isn't her's to claim, Mara can have him and she doesn't get a say on the matter.

"I'm fine, Mara, just some personal stuff is seriously messing with my head." Mina said to her as she slid her sketch book underneath her bed. She didn't like it out in the open where people could find it and look through it. She really didn't want anyone to see it, and she had perfectly good reasons not to.

"We might not be close, Mina, but I can tell that you're not alright. You can talk to me, you know. I may not be Nina, but I am a girl." Mara said to her as she shifted from one foot to another awkwardly. Mina didn't think that she could talk about this to Mara, mainly since it was about her.

"I don't know, Mara."

"It's about Jerome, isn't it?" Mara said, just wishing that Mina would talk to her. Ever since this whole thing with Mick started, she's lost one friend, and she's starting to loose another. Patricia's still been going crazy over Joy's leaving. Even if they were now room mates, she can tell something's wrong with Patricia, something that she's not telling her. She saw the look on Mina's face and blushed, but smiled to herself upon knowing that she was right about it being about Jerome. "Sorry. Was that too blunt?" Mara asked her when she realized that Mina hadn't said anything yet.

"Uh, maybe just a little." Mina said to her with a small smile as she made a motion with her fingers. Mara giggled and made her way across the room. "But, uh, you're right." Mina shifted uncomfortably on her bed, not sure if she even wanted Mara to know that she saw her and Jerome together in the bathroom. She so badly wanted to think that it was nothing, but why else would they be alone in the girl's bathroom together?

"Well, what happened? Did something happen in his room last night? I heard Alfie saying that you two were in there alone and were really close together when he came in. Did something happen between you two? Did you two kiss?" Mara asked as she sat down on the edge of the bed. Mina's jaw tightened, why would Mara want to know if she and Jerome kissed or not, and be excited to know the answer to that question? Shouldn't she be upset if they did, even though they never did, but still?

"Nothing happened, and I doubt anything ever will." Mina told her, causing Mara to become confused. Why wouldn't anything happen between Mina and Jerome? From where she saw it, they were only days away from getting together. Today though? Today they both were awkward around the other. Mina bit her lip nervously. "Mara, I . . . I saw you . . . in the bathroom." Mina blurted out. Mara didn't understand though. ". . . With Jerome." Mina said to her when she saw that Mara hadn't caught onto what she was talking about. Mara paled on sight. Did Mina know what she did?

"Uh, look, Mina. I know it was wrong to do, but he was so wrong. I couldn't help it. He wasn't getting it, so I, uh, kind of, um, took control of the situation I guess." Mara confessed to her, but Mina was taking it the wrong way. She didn't want to here what her and Jerome did! God, wasn't she suppose to be all 'team Mick'? Did he even know about Mara and Jerome?

"Does Mick know?" Mina asked her, even though she so badly wanted to tell Mara to leave before she told her too much and she felt even more sick to her stomach. Why was she even reacting this way about Jerome and Mara? They probably had history, and she was new here, Mara would come first obviously. Mara bit her lip and shook her head sadly.

"Please don't say anything, Mina. Mick would hate me if he knew." Mara pleaded with the girl across from her. Mina didn't know what to do. Why should she even care? She nodded after a moment of thinking. "Thank you so much, Mina!" Mara said happily as she leaned forward and through her arms around Mina, who just stayed frozen, frowning as she looked at the floor. "Well, I should go. Supper should be ready any minute. Are you coming as well?" Mara said as she let go of Mina and got up to head to the door.

"Uh, no. I'm just really tired so I'm gonna skip dinner tonight." Mina said as Mara was about to leave the room. Mara frowned, not knowing if she should let it go or not. She saw that Mina looked a bit sick though, so maybe it was best if she left it alone? On the other side of the door, Jerome was about to knock on the door to tell Mina that supper was ready. He hadn't really seen her all day and he couldn't believe that he was actually admitting it, but he missed seeing her today.

Just as he was about to knock, Mara came out of the room, biting back a yelp when she almost walked straight into Jerome. She motioned for him to be quiet as she shut the door behind her. Little did they know, Mina had seen that Jerome was out there for the few seconds that Mara had had the door opened.

"What were you doing in there?" She could hear Jerome ask Mara. Mina could hear the tone in Jerome's voice and was confused by it. He sounded worried, and a little angry with Mara. Little did she know, Jerome wasn't worried about Mina finding out anything. He was worried of Mara saying something that would upset Mina. He hadn't noticed that Mina had left the room with no word, twice, and not returned. Both times that she had come into the room she looked upset as well.

"Girl talk, Jerome. She won't be coming to supper, she isn't feeling so good." Mara told Jerome. Mina didn't know if they thought that they were whispering, or that she just couldn't hear them, or even if they just didn't cared that she could hear them.

"Is she alright?" Mina was confused, why was Jerome concerned about her at all? If he's with Mara, she's the last person that Jerome would want to hear him sound concerned about some other girl. She could hear Mara sigh, but she couldn't hear if she said anything to him or not.

"She's fine, she's just feeling a bit under the weather and doesn't want to come out for supper. Look, Jerome, Mina knows about what happened today. She saw us in the bathroom. She promised not to tell Mick though." Mina's heart dropped, Mara almost sounded relieved about that. She had to wonder though, why should Mick care so much about if Mara and Jerome were together? He was still with Amber last time that she checked.

She didn't hear anything else be said, but she did hear the sound of shuffling feet and knew that they had walked away, most likely heading off to go have supper with everyone else. Mina curled up under her covers and turned over so her back was facing the door. She had a bad feeling in her gut, she didn't know why, but it made her feel sick. She closed her eyes, wishing that she would just fall into a dreamless sleep.

Later that night, hours after everyone was suppose to be a sleep, the house wasn't as quiet as it should have been. Some how Patricia and Fabian had both made it past Victor, and also avoided running into each other at the same time. Fabian had been waiting for Nina at her door while Patricia was making her way down to Jerome and Alfie's room. It didn't take Nina long to come out and for them to head up to the attic. They were going to see if they could listen to the cylinders that they had found.

While they were setting everything up, Fabian was still a bit worried about Mina. She hadn't come to supper, and that not only worried him, but it worried Nina as well. He could tell that Jerome wasn't happy with the fact that she was skipping supper either. Nina had gone to go give her a plate of food and see if she was up to some sister-to-sister talk, but found that she was fast a sleep in her bed.

The two had soon gotten the machine ready to play the cylinders. They just hoped that this worked and didn't get them in any trouble. They were still in hot waters after the party. Downstairs, Mina was still fast a sleep in her bed. Her wish for dreamless slumber wasn't granted though as she tossed and turned in her sleep. A whimper left her lips, her grip tightening around her sheets as her head tossed to the side.

Inside of Jerome and Alfie's room, they were playing Patricia like pros. She wasn't completely buying their psychic act, but she still stayed and listened as they went on with their scam. "Patricia? You didn't need to call me, Patricia. Why couldn't you just leave me alone." Alfie said out, his voice trying to mimic a girl's high toned voice. Not even two seconds later, a terrible ghostly screeching noise echoed through out the house. The three quickly jumped up from their chairs startled.

"What was that?" Patricia asked them. She knew that Alfie had just been pulling her leg a moment ago, but no way were that they causing that horrible screeching noise. Inside of Mina's room, her cries became worse as the screeching filled her room. The memories of the screaming she had heard all those years ago filled her head, causing her to cry out. Upstairs, Victor stood up from his desk and walked over to the doorway.

"Who's there?" He asked out.

Jerome, Patricia, and Alfie all stood frozen as the screeching continued on for another minute. They all seemed to relax when it stopped. The two boys shared a look before letting a chuckle escape from their lips. Patricia rolled her eyes before waving them off and leaving the room, muttering something under her breath as she did. They were about to clean up and head to bed when they both jumped a mile when another scream broke the silence.

The two shared a confused look as the screaming continued on. It didn't sound like the screeching at all, and it sounded really close by. "No! Please, no!" Jerome's eyes widened when he realized that it wasn't just any screaming. It was Mina who was screaming! Jerome jumped into motion when he came to that realization, rushing out of the room with out a word to Alfie. It only took a minute, not even, to get to Mina's room, but it felt like way longer to Jerome.

"Mina!" He called out as he barged into her room. He saw her thrashing around in her bed, screaming out as if someone was trying to kill her. Jerome moved across the room quickly and took a hold of her shoulders and giving her a gentle, yet worried, shaking. "Mina, wake up. It's a nightmare, Mina. Wake up!" He said out to her as he tried to wake her. At first it didn't work, but as he let go of her shoulders, she shot up with a gasp, screaming when she saw how close he was to her. She jumped back, hitting the wall to try and get as far away from him as she could.

"Get away! Leave them alone!" She screamed out, still feeling as if she was in her nightmare. Jerome held up his hands in surrender, trying to show her that he wasn't going to hurt her. She had hot tears rolling down her cheeks, the tears still falling down from her eyes as she sobbed out. He could see the terror in her eyes and he knew that she thought that was still in her nightmare.

"Mina, it's Jerome. It's just me, luv. I won't hurt you." Jerome said out to her softly, trying to sound calm and gentle toward her. Mina flinched back from him as much as she could with her back against the head board, her head turning quickly to look at him in confusion.

"Jerome?" Her voice sounded so fragile to him, and it caused a pull on his heart. He nodded slowly to her, letting his hands slowly lower to his sides. Jerome was caught off guard when she suddenly through arms around him and sobbed into his shoulder. Jerome froze, not knowing what to do. "It was horrible. Their screams, they were right there. I . . . I heard them." Mina sobbed out. Jerome looked down at the girl clutching onto him as if she would die if he wasn't there. He hesitantly wrapped his arms around her, holding onto her as she cried.

"It's alright, Mina. They won't hurt you, you're safe now." Jerome told her as he moved her over enough so that he could get onto the bed with her. Mina curled up into his side, fitting perfectly in his arms. Jerome's body instantly tensed up when Mina snuggled up to him like she did, but relaxed when he saw that she was calming down a little. She was still crying silently, but it wasn't as bad as she had been when he had came in. He had to wonder though what she had dreamed about that was so bad that it caused her to react like this.

He was surprised that no one else was coming down here to check on Mina, not even Nina was here yet. Surely Nina would hear her own family screaming and want to find out if she alright? Minutes passed by, but yet? Still no one came to check in on Mina. He looked down and saw that Mina was staring blankly at the wall. He played with her hair, brushing it out of her face as he smoothed it down.

Jerome didn't know how long he was sitting in Mina's bed for when he looked down to see that Mina had fallen back a sleep. He knew that it would look bad if someone found them like this later on this morning, but he really didn't want to wake her up by moving her around so he could get up and leave. He watched as her bangs covered her eyes, her slow breathing blowing her hair as she exhaled. He chuckled softly to himself when he saw her noise twitch in annoyance. He carefully moved his arm that was wrapped around her shoulders and brushed her bangs out of her face.

He heard the sound of Mina's door knob turning and tensed up instantly. His head shot up as he saw it open. He let out a breath of relief when he saw that it was just Alfie in the doorway. "You never came back, man. I didn't know what happened. Is Mina alright?" Alfie whispered from his spot between the door. Jerome glanced back down at her to make sure that Alfie hadn't woken her up, smiling to himself when he saw that she hadn't even moved.

"Nightmare, mate. By the time she fell a sleep, I couldn't wake her up again." Jerome whispered over to him. Alfie grinned at his friend, giving him a knowing look as he nodded, shutting the door silently as he let them be. He slowly tip toed back to his room, sliding into bed to sleep for the night.

Back in Mina's room, Jerome smiled to himself as he watched Mina sleep. Even with tear streaked cheeks, she still managed to look beautiful to him. Not that he would ever admit that to her, like ever, but she did. He shifted carefully to get more comfortable, looking down at Mina once more before he closed his eyes and let sleep over come him. He knew that he wouldn't be getting much sleep, but didn't care as long as Mina was fine when she woke up.


	16. Kissing Break Down

Thanks for all of the reviews! I love reading what you guys think of the chapters! I do not own anything in this story, except for Mina, everything else belongs to their rightful owners.

Chapter 16

Mina's eyes flutter open tiredly as her alarm clock went off the next morning. She was about to go shut it off when she heard another groan of annoyance next to her, a deeper toned groan might she add. She went to jump up, but found that she was stuck because of the arm wrapped around her waist. She looked up frantically to see that it was just Jerome, who still had his eyes closed trying to sleep.

Memories of last night came back to her. She had the nightmare last night, only it wasn't just any nightmare. It was _The_ nightmare, the one that would haunt her forever. Jerome had woken her up though. He had held her as she cried, staying with her until she fell back a sleep, and apparently after she fell a sleep by the looks of it. She smiled softly, he had stayed with her.

"Would you shut that bloody thing off already?" Jerome grumbled in his half a sleep state. Mina giggled as she reached across him and shut her alarm clock off. "Finally." Jerome mumbled out as he shifted in the bed, pulling Mina back to his side. She giggled at how silly he was acting.

"It's time to get up, Jerome. We have school in a few hours, remember?" Mina reminded him as she gave him a little shove. Jerome peeked an eye open and looked down at her with a small grin on his face. He quite enjoyed waking up to her smile. Sure, he saw it every other morning, but today it was different. This smile was new and just for him.

"I'm sure we can miss a few classes. I'm certain Mara can cover if I asked her to." Jerome chuckled to her, only Mina frowned at the mention of Mara. How could she have forgotten about Mara? Here she was, practically in bed with Jerome, while he was with Mara! She quickly jumped up and shot out of bed, causing Jerome to become confused. Had he said something wrong?

"I need to get ready, you should leave and get ready too." It was like Mina was a totally different person now. She looked distant and sad, not like a moment ago when she was smiling and laughing. He could see that she was serious though, so he nodded hesitantly and left the room with a quick good bye. Mina took a shaky breath before going to change into her uniform.

Mina had wanted to skip breakfast, she really didn't want to be in the same room as Jerome and Mara. Could she after how her and Jerome woke up this morning? She had tried to sneak out early, but didn't even make it to the door before she was picked up from the behind by Mick. He had seen her try to leave without eating and wasn't going to let her skip another meal. It wasn't healthy to skip too many meals, especially for someone her size. She already breakable small as it was.

She had agreed to grab a muffin and eat it on her walk to school. She wouldn't stay in the dining room with the others though, and Mick couldn't make her either. She had grabbed a small muffin and left the house with a quick 'morning' to everyone. After about almost everyone asking her what was wrong with Mina, Nina decided to head to school early to see if she could find out.

She found her at her locker, which was next to her own locker. "Mina? You do know that a muffin isn't gonna cut it, right? At lunch those guys are gonna find you and force feed you if they don't see you eating an actual meal." Nina said to her sister as she approached Mina.

"Look, I'll grab something to eat for lunch, okay?" Mina snapped at Nina, who was shocked by Mina's out burst. Mina took a deep breath and felt bad for snapping at Nina. She was just tired and stressed out. "Sorry, I'm just stressed, and you know how I get, Nina." Mina said as she shut her locker and stuffed her binder into her bag. Nina nodded, knowing that Mina was a basket case when she was stressed out.

"What's on your mind, Min? You can tell me anything, you know that." Nina said as she opened her locker. She might as well get her stuff for the first half of the day ready while she's at her locker. Mina bit back a scoff at that. So she could tell Nina anything, but Nina couldn't tell her everything about what ever it was that she and Fabian were doing?

"I'm fine, Nina. Just . . . just drop it. Okay?" Mina told her. Nina was taken back from Mina's tone with her, but she didn't say anything about it. The two stayed silent for a few minutes after that as some other students quickly filled up the halls. Nina was putting her binder inside of her locker as Mina looked up when she heard foot steps coming toward them. She smiled when she noticed Fabian checking himself over before coming closer.

"Hey, Mina. Nina. Hey. The thing is, um, me and you, we've known each other for, uh, a couple of weeks now. And, it's just . . . the thing is, Amber." Fabian stuttered, not knowing what he was actually suppose to say to Nina. Mina was confused, watching them curiously. She noticed that Nina knew what he was talking about though. What did Amber do?

"I told her not to say anything. She, uh, caught me sneaking in, and just, assumed, and I couldn't exactly tell her that we were, uh, working on our, you know, history thing. She would never have believe that. So, I let her go with her theory." Nina was just as nervous as Fabian. Mina fought back a giggle. She knew that Nina was purposely lying about what they were actually doing, but it was still fun to see these two all nervous around each other. She noticed that Fabian smiling like he was enjoying making Nina more nervous, and Mina knew she was about to say something she would regret. "I . . . ow!" Nina started, but a quick tug on her hair stopped her.

"Sorry, you had something in your hair, and it was bugging me. Fabian, did you want to ask Nina something?" Mina cut in, making a motion to Fabian from behind Nina's back. Fabian seemed to catch on though.

"Oh, uh, um, yeah. Nina, maybe, uh, you'd fancy, you know, going out to lunch . . . with me, today?" Fabian asked her nervously as he shifted from one foot to the other awkwardly. Nina blushed and looked back at Mina for help. She just gave her a little nudge though, motioning for her to go on and do it. Nina shot her a look before looking back at Fabian with a shy smile.

"Uh, sure. I'd, um, really like that." Nina said to him with a shy smile. Fabian's eyes widened a little in surprised that she had said yes to him, but soon a smile beamed on his face. Mina giggled at the sight of them and shook her head before leaving them alone. Hopefully they didn't screw up this before it even became a 'this' while she was gone. She had drama class first, and she dreaded it. She had that class with both Jerome and Mara.

She entered the room and spotted both Jerome and Mara, thankfully not together at the moment. She spotted Amber and Mick and saw that they were in their own world, one that she wasn't about to but into. Patricia and Alfie were with Jerome and seemed to be talking about something important. Mara was by herself, but she really didn't want to talk to her again. It was awkward and hard to talk to Mara yesterday.

Nina and Fabian came in soon, but Mina didn't want to bother them. They looked all coupley as they blushed and talked in hushed voices. Luckily, the class started soon. "Patricia, Alfie, and Jerome. Pairs, please." Mr. Winkler called over to them. Mina watched as Jerome went to Mara, leaning in and making a face as he appeared at her side. She looked around and saw that everyone else that she knew was already paired up. Mick was with Fabian, Alfie was with Patricia, and Amber was with Nina. She ended up being paired up with some girl she didn't even know. "Three little words. I love you." Mr. Winkler said as he started his lesson. Mina giggled as she saw Mick and Fabian look at each other and take a step away from the other. "See, it's not what you say. It's how you say it. In your pairs, I want you to tell a story, but you can only do it, having a conversation using those three words. I love you, okay?" Mr. Winkler explained to them.

"Psst, Fabian? Mick? I'll switch with one of you, if you want?" Mina whispered over to them. They two shared a look before nodding quickly. Fabian quickly pulled Mina over to him as Mick moved over to where she had been. Mina giggled at how they were acting. It wasn't like it was real, they were just being immature about it. Mina looked over to see Jerome in Mara's face saying something. He was grinning like a mad man, yet she looked like she would rather be some where else. She heard them say 'I love you' to the other and grimaced.

"Mara and Jerome, great acting. Yeah, yeah I can almost feel the hatred." Mr. Winkler said to the too. Mina saw Jerome chuckled as he wrapped an arm around Mara playfully. She felt a tug on her heart as she watched them. She was pulled out of her trance when she felt a tug on her arm. She turned to see Fabian watching her with worry.

"Mina, what's wrong?" Fabian asked her upon seeing the hurt look in her eyes. He had heard from Alfie that Mina had been screaming like crazy last night. He had thought he heard more screaming, but he had been too wrapped up with keeping himself and Nina hidden last night while it was going on. He had completely forgotten about it by the time they came back down from the attic.

"Nothing. I'm fine." Mina said as she glanced back and forth between Jerome and Fabian. Jerome was watching her curiously. He had heard Fabian and turned around to see what was wrong. Mina couldn't take it. He was still sneaking glances at Mara next to him, but looking at her as well. She couldn't tell what he was doing, but it was starting to hurt her head. She felt like he was rubbing it in her face, that Mara was his secret girl and she wasn't. Two could play at that game. "Fabian?" She turned back to look at him.

"Yeah?"

"I love you." With one last glance at Jerome, and with out even thinking, she got up on her tippy toes and planted a kiss on Fabian. The whole class gasped in shock upon seeing Mina kiss Fabian, who himself was wide eyed with shock. Jerome's hands clenched at his sides, his eyes narrowing on the two. Mina pulled back, fear filling her eyes as she saw Fabian's shocked ones. She glanced past Fabian to see Nina watching her with a hurt expression. "Oh my god. I . . I'm so sorry. I . . I . . . I have to go." Mina stuttered out before running out of the room.

"Mina, you can't . . ." Mr. Winkler spoke out, but trailed off when he knew Mina was already gone. Fabian looked back at Nina, his eyes locking with hers. As hurt as she felt, she could see that Fabian was as shocked by the kiss as she was. Nina glanced over and saw that Jerome was fuming mad.

"I . . . I'll go find her." Nina said out before hurrying off to go find Mina. Mr. Winkler opened his mouth to say something, but no words came out upon seeing that Nina was already out of the room and out of hearing range. Out in the hall, Mina was running down the hallway, seconds away from breaking down and crying. Nina wasn't far behind her though. She could vaguely hear a familiar scream, Patricia, but she couldn't care about that at the moment.

"Mina, wait up!" Nina called out after her. Mina just sped up upon hearing Nina behind her though. She couldn't face Nina after what she had just done. "Mina!" Nina shouted out as she chased after Mina. She made it all the way outside and down the steps before Nina caught up to her. She grabbed hold of Mina's wrist and pulled her to a stop, spinning her around to face her.

"I'm so sorry!" Mina cried out to Nina. Nina could see that Mina didn't even know why she had kissed Fabian in the first place. It still hurt to see her kiss him though, even worse was that Mina was there when Fabian asked her out, only minutes ago to make it worse.

"Mina, talk to me! Why did you kiss Fabian? You were there when he asked me out, but you still kissed him! What's going on? What's got you so upset?" Nina asked Mina, hoping that their shouting didn't cause the teachers to come and look for them. If she wanted Mina to talk to her, it had to be now.

"I don't know. I don't know! It's just . . . he was with her, holding her, whispering to her! I just snapped, I don't know. Fabian was there and he was watching. God, I'm so screwed up!" Mina couldn't even stand still. She felt like scum, she had just kissed Fabian in front of Nina. Keeping something from her, was one thing, but kissing her sister's boyfriend was worse.

"Hey. Hey! You are not screwed up, maybe a little broken at the moment, but not screwed up." Nina said as she took a hold of Mina face and locked eyes with her. It was times like this where Nina felt like the older sister, which she kind of was just older cousin instead of sister. "Now, who's this 'he' you're talking about, Mina?" Nina asked her as she pulled Mina over to little stone ledge and sat the two of them down there.

"Who do you think, Nina? He's with Mara! Mara out of all people. I don't know why I care, but I can't stand it, Nina!" Mina confessed to her sister. Nina wasn't surprised that this was all about Jerome. True, she had found it weird that Mara and Jerome were suddenly always together and sending each other secret looks, but she hadn't thought that they were together.

"Are you sure that they're together?" Nina asked her. Mina bit her lip and nodded. She didn't want to reopen the memory of the conversation that she had over heard and had with Mara yesterday. Thinking of yesterday, why had Jerome been with her the whole night? Why hadn't Nina been there?

"Where were you last night? I had the nightmare again, Nina, but you never showed up." Mina asked her, searching her eyes for some kind of truth behind them. Nina looked nervous though. Mina could tell before Nina even opened her mouth that she was going to lie to her face again.

"I . . . I, uh, was dead a sleep. I didn't know that you had the nightmare, Mina, or else you know that I would have been down there with you." Nina lied to her. Mina knew that she was half lying to her. She knew that Nina hadn't been a sleep by the look in her eyes, but she could tell that Nina really would have been there if she had known. "We should get back before they send the search party after us." Nina tried to ease the tension between them, but found it useless.

"I think I'm just gonna head back to the house. I'm beyond tired after last night. Besides, after what I just did? I can't face Fabian right now, or Jerome for that matter." Mina told her, her voice empty of emotion. She looked half dead on her feet. She looked paler and she had dark bags underneath her eyes. Nina nodded as she pulled out her phone. She sent a quick text to Amber saying that she was taking Mina back to the house and that she'd be back in a few.

Nina and Mina entered the Anubis house together. Mina had her head on Nina's shoulder as Nina had her arm wrapped around her. It was times like these that made Nina remember that Mina was always the calm, put together girl that she tried to be. Mina still had her nightmares though, and they would always haunt her, no matter how far away from home they were.

"Sweeties, what are you both doing home so early?" Trudy asked them as she came out of one of the rooms. As she got closer she noticed that Mina didn't look so well. "Oh, my. Are you alright, Mina? What's the matter, sweetie?" Trudy asked as she approached the girls. She placed the back of her hand on Mina's cheek to check her temperature, brushing her bangs out of her face in a motherly way. She looked to Nina for answers as she ushered them into the living room and over to the couch.

"She wasn't feeling well yesterday. She hasn't eaten that much lately either, only a muffin for breakfast, she hasn't had anything else since lunch yesterday. She didn't get enough sleep either and had a little, uh, break down in drama class." Nina told her as she let Mina lay her head on her lap. Mina just stared out at nothing as Nina played with her hair. Trudy was truly a mother to all of them, even the Martin girls after so little time of knowing them. She would never replace their Gran, but they were glad to know that she would take care of them and be on their side.

"Oh, you poor sweetie. I'll go fetch you some water." Trudy said before she left to go to the kitchen to grab some water out of the fridge. Nina looked down at Mina to see her spacing out. She hasn't done this since that one Halloween back when Mina had only been living with Nina for a few months after her parents died.

"It's alright, Mina. Just sleep. Nothing bad's going to happen, I promise." Nina told her as she stroked Mina's hair in a motherly way. Mina just stared out into space, not moving or saying anything back to Nina. Nina leaned over to look at Mina and sighed when she saw Mina's blank look. Trudy came back a minute later and put the glass of water on the coffee table before pulling up a little stool and sitting down in front of the girls.

"Sweetie, you should be getting back to class. I've got this one. She just needs some of my special soup and a little sleep is all." Trudy said as she helped Mina sit up so that Nina could get up. Nina looked at Mina as she stood up and nodded.

"I'll straight back here after classes and check on here, maybe during lunch too. I'll see you soon, Mina, okay?" Nina told her as she got ready to leave. She started to leaven the room, giving Mina one last look back before she left the room and the house to go back to class.


	17. Calls Home and Screaming Nightmares

_I do not own anything in this story, besides Mina, everything else belongs to their rightful owners. _

_Chapter 17_

_Enjoy!_

Mina laid back down on the couch once Nina was gone. She was afraid to close her eyes. She didn't want to see them, hear them, in her head again. She could hear Trudy talking to her about going to make the soup, but Mina knew that the soup wouldn't make anything better. She felt her eyes getting heavy, but she fought to stay awake. It was a loosing battle though, and soon her eye lids closed shut.

_'A small brunette child was running around, giggles escaping her lips as she ran from her parents. The two adults were laughing as they 'ran' after their daughter. The little girl squealed out in laughter when she was pick up off of the ground and swung around. "I got you." The man chuckled as he adjusted his daughter in his arms. The little girl broke out in laughter as he tickled her tummy._

_"You're so fast, Mina. We almost didn't catch you." Her mother laughed as she walked up next to them. Mina giggled when her mother pinched her cheeks. Their happy moment was interrupted by a loud knocking on the door and a shout to open up the door.'_

Mina tossed in her sleep, wishing that her dream would change the out come that was soon to happen.

_'Mina watched confused as her parents exchanged worried looks. "Hide, and don't come out until I say." Her father said as he passed Mina over to her mother. Her mom nodded and took off upstairs. Mina looked at her father confused until he was soon out of sight. _

_"Baby, we're gonna play a new game. We're gonna hide and daddy's gonna come find us when he's done counting." Her mother told her in a whisper as they hid in the closet of her and daddy's room. Mina watched with wide eyes as her mother moved a few things and opened up a door on the floor._

_"Like Hide in go seek, mommy?" Mina asked her mother. Her mother bit her lip and nodded as she picked Mina up and put her in the trap door. "Daddy's never gonna find me in here, mommy." Mina laughed out as she got comfortable in the small space._

_"That's what I'm hoping for, baby girl. Mommy's gonna go find a place to hide. I want you to stay here and not to make a sound, no matter what you hear. Okay, Mina? This is very important that no matter what you hear you do not make a noise." Mina looked at her mother confused, but nodded and made a motion of zipping her lips closed. "That's a good girl. I love you, Mina, and so does your daddy. I'll be back soon. Remember, Mina, not a peep." Her mother gave Mina one last kiss on the head before closing the door.'_

Mina whimpered out in her sleep, tossing around more. A cry escaped her lips, wishing that she had understood then that they were not just playing hide and seek. Screams filled her head, their screams. Mina cried out, wishing that she had cried out for them then. She hadn't though, she had done what her mother had asked her to and stayed quiet.

_'Wake up, Mina. Wake up. Mina!' _Mina cried out in her sleep, pushing away from who ever was holding her. All she could hear was their screams, the sound of things falling over and crashing to the floor. _'Mina!'_ She shot up, a scream leaving her lips. She broke down in tears, grabbing onto the person that had been trying to wake her up.

"That's quite enough, Miss Martin." She jumped back at Victor's voice. She had just hugged Victor! Her nightmares were really taking a toll on her if she's hugging Victor of all people. "I'll go fetch Trudy to go make you some soup." Victor said to her awkwardly as he got up from the couch and left the room. Mina shivered, she had just hugged Victor. She needed a shower, and not just because she hugged Victor, she was covered in sweat and she felt really gross.

She glanced at the time and saw that she had a little more than an hour before everyone would be back from classes. She was still a bit shaky, but she managed to get up and made it to her room to grab her robe and head up to the shower. She shed of her uniform and hopped into the shower. She turned on the water and let the water hit her head. She shivered at the cold water, but it only lasted a minute before the hot water come on.

She came out her room about a hour or so later, freshly clean from her shower and now in her fuzzy purple pajama pants and white tank top. Her sketch book was in hand as she made her way to the living room. She settled down in one of the chairs at the table and looked around for something to draw. She found herself picking up her pencil and opening to a new page. She started out on the outline of the two bodies before getting into detail.

She didn't even realize that the others were starting to get back from the school. She was so wrapped up in her sketch. She only realized that someone was back when she heard the chair next to her scrape against the floor, indicating that someone was taking the seat next to her. "Is that your mom and dad?" She jumped at Nina's voice. She looked over at her sadly and nodded. Nina gave her a sad smile and placed her hand on Mina's shoulder.

"I can still hear their screams, Nina. I thought that they would go away after a while, or I'd block it out, but I can still hear them." Mina confessed to her sister. Nina bit her lip, not knowing what she could say. Nothing she would say could make it better. Mina would still be haunted by that day.

"They loved you, Mina. They wouldn't want this to control your life, especially now. You're happy here, don't tell me that you aren't, cause since we've gotten here you've been nothing but smiles and laughs." Nina said to her as she moved over and wrapped her arms around Mina. Mina gave her a small smile, happy that they were having a good talk, something they haven't had since they first got here.

"Thanks, Nina. I know that, but it's hard, you know?" Mina told her. Both girls looked up when they heard chatter in the other room. The second that Mina saw Fabian, guilt filled her whole body. "I didn't ruin anything between you and Fabian, did I? God, Nina, I didn't even think when I kissed him. He didn't kiss me back, not that it matters. I should have never kissed him. I was just, well . . . jealous and having a mini break down. That's no excuse though . . ." Mina was start to ramble on, but Nina just shook her head.

"It's fine, Min. Fabian and I are fine. Doubt worry, no one's mad at you. It's, like, already forgotten. I guess after we left, Patricia started screaming about some man staring at her outside of the window. No one was there though." Nina explained to Mina. Mina nodded, not really knowing what to say to that. She didn't get a chance to think much on what she could say because Fabian came up to the table.

"Hey, Nina. Mina, can I talk you. Privately?" Fabian said nervously, giving a pleading look to Nina. The girls gave each other a confused look before Nina nodded and got up from the table to give them some privacy. Fabian looked nervous as he took the seat across the table from Mina. "Mina . . . about earlier today. If I . . . you know . . . uh, you know . . . led you on to believe that I, um, might think of you in a way that . . ." Fabian had no idea what he was saying, but Mina caught on to his train of thought. He was trying to put her down easily.

"Look, Fabian. I had, uh, a little melt down. I kissed you without even thinking. I know you like Nina, and that she likes you, god I was there when you asked her out not even five minutes before. I should have never kissed you, Fabian. You're a sweet and really nice guy. Not to sound mean or anything, but you're not really my type of guy. You're more Nina's kind of guy. Sorry for the mix up, I should go see what I missed for assignments from Nina or someone. See you later, Fabian." Mina said as she collected her things as she got up, giving Fabian a little wave before leaving the room. Fabian stared after her in shock. He looked back at Nina to see her motioning for him to come over. She looked like it was serious too. Fabian nodded and got up from his seat and followed her up to her room.

A hour or so later, Mina was sitting on the couch next to the fire place, staring at her sketch of her parents. She didn't really remember a lot about them much, but her Gran had showed her pictures of them. A small smile slowly appeared on her lips as she remembered the story her Gran had told her about.

Her parents had taken her up to a cabin for the week and it had snowed a lot. They made a snowman and put her father's black top hat on it saying that he was Frosty the snowman, only she said it wasn't because the hat didn't have any magic in it. So, being who she is, she grabbed the sparkles from her arts and crafts set and threw it all over the snowman saying 'now he's Frosty'. She loved that story the most out of all of the stories that her Gran has told her over the years.

She didn't even realize that tears were running down her face until one of her tears hit the paper. She sniffled, returning from her thoughts, and wiped away her tears on her cheeks. "You alright, Mina?" She looked up see Amber looking at her concerned. Mina gave her a small smile and nodded. Amber smiled back, buying Mina's fake smile, and left the room.

"You know, unlike Millington, no one's gonna buy that sad attempt of a smile." Mina jumped when she heard Jerome. He was leaning against the entry way closest to her, his head tilted to the side as he stared at her with his curious blue eyes. Mina didn't want to talk to him. After her little break down in class, she didn't want to be around him. He would laugh and make fun of her no doubt.

"Go away, Jerome. I'm tired, and I don't feel like dealing with you today." Mina said yo him as she got up from the couch and went to leave the room, but Jerome wasn't finished talking to her yet. He stepped to the side and blocked her exit. "Jerome, move." She wouldn't even look him in the eye.

"Not until you tell me what's upsetting you? And why in the world would you ever kiss Rutter?" Jerome asked her. Every time that she tried to move around him, he just kept moving with her, making it clear that he wasn't going to let her pass until he got his answers from her.

"I got caught up in the moment, Jerome. Now let me go." Mina lied to him, trying her best to sound like she was telling him the truth, but Jerome knew better. He knew a lier when he saw one, especially when it was her lying to him. She wouldn't look him in the eyes, and her bottom lip always twitches when she lies.

"Nice try, Mina. Try again." Jerome told her. Mina rolled her eyes. He was acting like this was a game or something. Well, she didn't want to play. She turned to go leave through the other door way, but his hand caught her wrist. "Not so fast, luv. I wanna know what's going on. Why are you ignoring me all of sudden?" Jerome asked her, completely seriousness screaming from his eyes. Mina bit her lip, it wasn't like she could tell him that his relationship with Mara was making her upset. She still didn't even know why it did.

"Just forget it, Jerome. You've got your girlfriend, so why won't you just leave me alone?" Mina pulled her arm out his hold at that statement and left Jerome standing there beyond confused. Where did she get the idea of him having a girlfriend? Yeah, he wants one, but he hasn't got one at this point in time.

"Mina! Mina, what are you . . ." He trailed off when he heard her bed room door slam shut. He would just ask her at dinner where she had gotten the idea that he had a girlfriend from. Was this why she's been ignoring him lately? He thought it was about what Alfie almost walked in on. She's been acting strange ever since Mara talked to her though. Did Mara say something to her ?

Speaking of the brainy girl, in comes Mara. "Mara! Mara, I need to know exactly what you said to Mina yesterday. It's important." Jerome asked her as he approached her. Mara looked around to make sure no one else was around to over hear them. She didn't want anyone, especially Amber and most of all Mick, finding out what she had done.

"Not now, Jerome. Everyone will be here any second now to have supper." Mara said to him before going into the kitchen to get the plates and silverware before setting the table for supper. Jerome rolled his eyes and left to go find out from the source herself what Mara had said to her. He came up to the door and was about to knock when he heard sniffling on the other side.

Mina couldn't believe that she had just said that to Jerome. He's going to think she's a loony toon, or worse, that she might actually like him more than a friend, if they were even that. She needed to talk to someone, and that someone wasn't going to be Nina this time. Nina was probably too busy with Fabian to have time to talk to her about something she doesn't even understand.

She took out her cell phone and dialed an all too familiar number. It rang a few times before a tired voice answered. "Hey, is now a bad time? I really need to talk, and Nina's not around." Mina asked the voice on the other line. She smiled weakly at the sound of the other person on the line.

"It's fine, Mins, we get tomorrow off anyways. Big snow storm back here. What's going on? You sound upset?" The other person asked her. Mina tried her best to laugh, happy to hear their voice. She didn't realize how much she had missed them until right now.

"Everything's so screwed up, Max. I had the nightmare again and I kissed Nina's boyfriend in front of the whole class, Nina included." Mina confessed to her friend. She heard a sigh on the other end. She obviously needed to start the beginning of everything for it all to make even a little sense.

"Nina got a boyfriend? Good for her, I hope he's a good guy cause I really don't feel like heading over to England just to kick some dude's ass." Mina giggled at that. She heard Max chuckle as well. She had no doubt that he would find a way to get himself over here just because some guy broke one of their hearts. So maybe she shouldn't mention Robby to him? Yeah, that sounds like a good idea.

"Fabian's a really great guy. He's perfect for Nina. He even tried to let me down easy, it was actually kind of funny. What's going back home? Is Gran doing okay with out us?" Mina asked him. She missed her Gran so much, and she didn't doubt that Nina did as well.

"Your Gran is fine, Mina. Everyone misses you guys, but otherwise doing okay. It's weird not being able to talk to you and see you every day, but I'm dealing, and no. No one is taking your or Nina's places here. So what's going on with you besides what you already told me?" Max asked her. He knew that it's got to be later over there for her too, plus not to mention long distance fee that she'll probably have to pay.

"Had a boyfriend, broke up with a boyfriend, made friends, loosing friends, oh and French is harder over here too." Mina said quickly to him. She heard Max sigh on the other end of the phone. He knew how she got when she didn't want to talk about something, but then did want to talk about it deep down.

"I can believe that the French is harder. So, is it the ex who's causing you to become an emotional rollercoaster, or is it one of the friends?" Max asked her. Mina bit her lip, not sure if she wanted to tell him about Jerome or not. Max was her best friend since forever, and also her ex boy friend. They had given in to their friend's hinting and gone out. It had worked for a while, but they were starting to fight and when it got really bad they didn't talk for months and Mina hated that.

"Friend. Look, Max, I don't know if you'd want details on this, I don't even think I know what's going on. It's so confusing. It's like we're throwing food at each other like every meal. Then he embarrasses me beyond words, but then he has his sweet moments. Then at the party things got bad between me and Robby, my ex, and Jerome was totally and completely sweet. We were alone in his room and . . ." Mina started rambling on, and Max was having a hard time keeping up.

"Wait, you were his room alone? Why were in his room alone at all?" Max wasn't pleased to hear Mina in another guy's room, let alone in one with just the owner of the room at the night of a party. Just because he and Mina didn't work, didn't mean that he was any less protective of her.

"I wanted to thank him, Max, so chill out. We ended up talking I guess, and . . . I don't know, we almost kissed I think. Now it's awkward and I find him in the girls bathroom with this girl Mara. Then she admitted to helping him with something he just couldn't do himself. I saw them all over each other during drama class all whispering and him holding her and I don't know . . . I freaked and kissed Fabian." Mina explained to Max, who was trying to process where his friend's head was.

"Mins, you do know that her helping him with something could mean anything, right? I think you just need to take a breath and relax. You sound like you're all over the place over there. You said that you had the nightmare again, right? I know how you get when you have it. You skip meals and you don't get sleep. Just get Nina, grab a movie, and a big bowl of the cookie dough ice cream that I know you love so much, and have a movie night. Look, I can hear my mom waking up, Mins, I gotta go." Max whispered into the phone.

"Yeah, okay. I'll talk to you soon, Max. Tell your mom and Gran that I miss them. Bye." Mina ended the call once she heard Max say good night and put her phone back on her dresser next to her picture of Nina, Max, and her. She wiped her traitor tears and smiled, feeling better now that she had talked to Max. She laid down under her covers and fell a sleep, hoping that she got a better night's sleep than she had earlier.

On the other side of Mina's door, Jerome sat on the floor, his back against the wall. He couldn't even begin to express how confused her was. He had only caught half of Mina's conversation with who ever this 'Max' guy is, and he'd have to some how explain to Mina that Mara wasn't his girl. He'd have to do it tomorrow though. By the sounds of the sheets rusling around, she was heading to bed early. He got up from his spot on the floor and headed back to the living room to have some supper.

Hours later when everyone was a sleep in their own beds, a scream broke the silence of the night. Everyone jumped awake and running to find out what was going on. Jerome ran to Mina's room, thinking that it was her screaming, He barged into the room to see her looking around half a wake. "Jerome? What's going on? Who's screaming?" Mina asked him as he tossed her her slippers and helped her get untangled from her sheets.

"One of the girls upstairs. C'mon, lets go." Jerome said to her as he pulled her up to her feet and out of the room. They two race upstairs and went to Mara and Patricia's room to find everyone there with an upset Patricia. Nina glanced up and saw Jerome and Mina in the door way, not missing to notice that they were holding hands. Mina saw that not only Nina, but Mara as well, were watching her and Jerome. She glanced down and saw that Jerome was still holding her hand. She quickly pulled her hand away from him. He opened his mouth to say something, but she had brushed past him and went to Nina's side and asked Patricia how she was.

Jerome shared a look with Alfie. He needed to tell Mina that what she was thinking wasn't true. He didn't know why it mattered that she thought that he was with Mara, but he did. He didn't like that she was avoiding him now. He missed their food fights during supper and their little banter battles after and during classes. He couldn't believe he was even admitting it to himself, but he was missing Mina.


	18. The Truth Will Set You Free    Or Not

Author's note - so sorry for the long wait! I'm just getting over having pneumonia, but I'm glad to know that I still have readers. I'll try to get the next chapter out quick! I do not own anything, everything but Mina belongs to their rightful owners.

Chapter 18

Enjoy!

Mina was standing in front of her mirror, just finishing up putting on her uniform jacket, when her door opened behind her. She saw Mick, Fabian, and Alfie all standing at the door. "What are you . . . hey! Put me down!" Mina shouted out as Mick picked her up around the waist and Fabian grabbed her feet so that she wouldn't kick. Alfie grabbed her bag and led the way out of the room.

"You are not skipping another meal, and just a muffin doesn't count." Mick told her as they carried her into the kitchen where Amber, Patricia, Mara, Nina, and Jerome all watched on in amusement as Mick put her down in the seat in between Alfie and Fabian.

Trudy placed a full plate of food in front of her before returning to the kitchen. Mina was about to take a bite of her eggs when she glanced up to see that everyone watching her. "Well, I can't eat if everyone's watching me." Mina snapped at them. They all cleared their throats in a way to hide their embarrassment as they went back to their own plates of food.

Mina rolled her eyes at them, annoyed that they were acting like this. She appreciated the thought, but constantly being picked up off of her feet and carried out of the room. First it was Jerome, and now Mick. She was really hoping that Alfie or Fabian don't get into the same habit. "How's Patricia doing?" Nina asked Mara, hoping that there was better news. Mara frowned, silently giving Nina her answer.

Patricia was doing okay, but she was still freaked out. She was still sleeping up in their room. Trudy was letting her stay home since she hardly got a wink of sleep last night after she woke up screaming. There was still no sign of Patricia's mystery man, but it still gave everyone chills just thinking that someone had broken inside of their home. "Trudy's letting her sleep in today." Mara told them all. The few who were close to Patricia all frowned, suddenly not in the mood to eat.

Mina was done with her breakfast, full from the food that she had consumed. She wasn't that hungry after the reminder of their supposed late night visitor. The thought of someone breaking in scared her the most, and only Nina knew why. It brought back some memories that she would rather never remember. "I'm done, and I ate more than a muffin so don't any of you even start." Mina said out as she pushed her plate away from her.

Fabian looked down at her plate and sighed. Mina wasn't lying, she hadn't even touched the muffin. She had eaten her waffles and eggs though, so they couldn't exactly get on her case about not eating her breakfast this time. "She ate the waffles and the eggs. She's good to go." Fabian told the others. Mina rolled her eyes upon hearing him. She takes back what she had said about being picked up, this was far more annoying than that.

Jerome chuckled at her expression. His heart went out to her, it really did. He's never seen someone being as babied as Mina is being about her eating. Though, he wasn't about to let her starve herself. He'd rather watch her suffer though being babied than know that she was starving herself. "We all should be off to school. Classes will be starting soon." Mara said out as she picked up her dirty dishes and went to put them away in the kitchen. Mick, Fabian, Amber, and Nina all nodded in agreement and followed her motion.

Alfie, being the good friend that he was, took Mina's plate before she could protest, and brought it into the kitchen for her. "Um, thanks, Alfie. You didn't need to do that though. I can bring my own plate into the kitchen on my own though." Mina called out to him as she got up from her seat to go after Alfie and the others.

Jerome took one last bite out of his muffin before hurrying to put his dishes away with the others. He still needed to talk to Mina about the 'him and Mara' thing. What better time to do that than on the walk to school? If he could catch up to her that is. She had gone ahead with some other girl from one of their classes, most likely talking about shopping or something else equally as girly.

He was surprised to see that Amber was with Nina and Fabian rather than with Mina, since it was usually that way. "What's got you thinking so hard, buddy? Mina troubles per usual, I'm guessing?" Jerome jumped as Alfie appeared at his side. That boy seriously needed to not sneak up on people. It was scary how silent he can be when he wants to.

"And why would I be having Mina troubles, Alfie? She's not talking to me, there for how could we be having any troubles?" Jerome said as the two friends walked along together. Alfie just rolled his eyes at him. He wasn't blind, but apparently Jerome and Mina both were. Jerome scoffed and rolled his eyes at his friend. "Okay, so maybe that is the trouble, but that's besides the point." Jerome told him, trying to convince him to just drop it.

But since when has Alfie ever just dropped something? "Come on, Jerome, I know you better than that." Alfie said, completely serious, to his friend. Jerome just looked a head, watching the back of Mina's frame walk along. "What's your big plan to win her over then?" Alfie asked him out of no where. Jerome choked on air, looking at Alfie like he had finally completely lost it.

How could Alfie even think that there would be some plan being set into motion? That was out of the question. It was completely crazy to even suggest that there was even the thought that he might feel more for that girl than he actually does. "There's no plan, Alfie. I don't like Mina like that, hardly at all really. She's more baggage that I, for one, don't need riding on my plane." Jerome says defensively to Alfie, whom is just grinning to himself.

He knew better than to believe Jerome's excuses at all right now. Sure, he liked Mina a little bit, but he knew when there was a chance for him to make a move and when there wasn't. Amber, on the other hand, was where his chances lied. Mina was destianed to be Jerome's girl, or at the very least not Alfie's girl.

The two stayed silent as they walked toward the school together. Both had a mile long road of thoughts running through their heads at the moment. Alfie noticed that Jerome was watching Mina still, who was now talking to some other guy from their math class. Alfie couldn't help but grin upon seeing Jerome's eye twitch in anger. "So your four step plan then?" Alfie said out to his friend. Jerome looked down at Alfie with a pointed look before nodding as he and Alfie left to go inside of the school together.

They all had French class first. A select few were nervous for different reasons. Mick was worried that he had failed, and Mara was worried about how Mick would react if he ever found out what she had done. She was so worried that she had gotten to the point where she was willing to do Jerome's bidding to make sure that Mick never knows.

Speaking of Jerome, here he comes now. Mara groans in annoyance as she spots Jerome coming over to her. "What is it now, Jerome? Do you want me to wash you dirty socks or something now?" Mara hisses at him. Jerome rolls his eyes at her. She could be such a drama queen about things sometimes. It wasn't like he was asking her to wash his under pants or anything like that. Besides, she had gotten herself into this position all on her own.

He glanced quickly over at Mina to see her getting her things out on her desk, her head buried inside of her bag as she searched for something. His eyes shifted back over to Mara, seriousness playing in his eyes now. "I have a problem, and by 'I', I mean we, my dear Mara." Jerome whispers to Mara, getting closer to her so that no one would over hear them. Mara just glares at him, but confusion flashed in her eyes for a moment.

Mina glanced up from her desk and saw Jerome and Mara whispering together. Jerome glances past Mara to Mina again, causing her to gasp out and look away. "Mina thinks that you and I are together, as in a couple together. That's a problem. I need to tell her that she misunderstood what ever you two had chatted about the other day." Jerome whispered to her as his eyes slowly shifted back over to her. Mara's eyes widened, a look of disgust filling her expression.

As if she would ever go out with Jerome! She glances back at Mina with a pained expression, so that was why she was upset? As much as Mara wanted to set things straight with Mina, she just couldn't. She couldn't, no. She wouldn't risk Mick finding out that she had cheated for him. "I'm sorry, Jerome, but you can't do that. Mick can't know what I did. I'm sorry that Mina misunderstood our conversation, but you're going to have to find another way to make her believe that you and I would never happen." Mara whispered to him, guilt only eating her up more upon seeing the pain in Jerome's eyes.

Mina, as badly as she wanted to ease drop, fought against the urge to do it. She looked around the room and spotted Amber and Nina whispering to each other. Amber had an MP3 player in her hand, obviously telling Nina something about it. She watched curiously as Nina broke out in a smile and whispered something to Amber, who seemed to brightend up upon hearing what Nina had said to her. "What's that, Nina? You think I'm a genius?" Amber suddenly shouted out before Nina whispered something to her.

The two laughed over what ever it was that they were talking about. It would seem that Nina let Amber in on her secret. Nina's only really talked to Fabian since the attic incident, but now she was suddenly all hush hush, whisper whisper, with Amber? That could only mean one thing, Amber was official more in the know than Mina was.

Amber, of all people, knew more about what was going on in her own sister's life than she did. How wrong is that? "Morning, everybody." Mrs. Andrews said as she came into the class room. A tired echo of 'Morning, Mrs. Andrews, filled the class room as she went over to her desk. "I have your French test papers to hand back here." She said, motioning to the papers in her hands, as she started to pass them out.

Mick was preparing for the worse. He was for sure going to fail. As Mrs. Andrews handed Mick his paper, confusion crossed Mick's face. Mara looked over at him, holding her breath in suspence. "I got an 'A'?" Mick said confused. Mara let her held breath out at Fabian looked at Mick's paer in shock. "I got an 'A'." Mick said more excitedly as he looked back and forth between Mara and Fabian.

Soon he was out of his seat and hugging Mara as her cheered happily. "I knew you could do it." Mara laughed as Mick let her go and returned to his own seat. Both were happy for him, though Mara was still worried that this all could back fire very badly on her any second now.

Behind them, Amber watched the two angrily. Why was Mick hugging Mara? Was he not hugging her? More importantly, how could Mick have gotten an 'A'? "What's going on?" She asked out to them. Jerome watched how Mara had tensed up instantly at the sound of Amber's voice. Mina looked over, proud for Mick, but her frown stayed present as she saw Jerome staring at Mara.

Mick turned around to face Amber. "I got an 'A'." He told her, the surprise still present in his voice. Amber stood up confused and moved over to Mick's side. Mick happily showed her the paper. "I'm sure I didn't get all of these, but I just did some really good guesses." Mick told her, suddenly very proud of himself. Amber wasn't convinced though.

Jerome reached forward to try and get Mara's attention. She looked paler than a ghost at the second, which only made him want to laugh. "Stranger things have happened, haven't they Mara?" Jerome spoke up, clearly wanting to move the attention onto Mara. True, he didn't really want to hurt Mara, but it was fun to see her squirm once and a while.

Amber turned her attention onto Mara, like Jerome had hoped, and noticed her worried expression. "Okay, settle down please." Mrs. Andrews spoke out once she had returned all of the tests. Amber tried to take a look at Mara's test, but she had pulled it away from her before she could get a good look at it. "Amber, back to your seat please." Mrs. Andrews says to her. Amber rolls her eyes and moves back to her seat like she was told. Mara watches as Mick is still silently celebrating his grade.

As class went on, Jerome's attention moved elsewhere. Over to Mina's seat to be more clearer. She wasn't paying any attention to the lesson as well he noticed. She was drawing away in her sketch book, glancing up at Mrs. Andrews every so often. Was she drawing the old lady? It seemed that was so as he observed her longer.

He so badly wanted to tell her that there was nothing going on between him and Mara, but he couldn't with out telling her the whole truth. As much as he would very much like to rat Mara out, he couldn't. He might be a lot of things, but he wasn't a rat when it came to his friends. He was hoping that Mara's secret was discovered soon though, which by the looks of it? Could be very soon if Amber has any say about it. Here's to hoping that Amber was smarter than she looked for once.

Why was he even caring that Mina knew that he was aviable or not? Hadn't he had told Alfie that he could care less if Mina talked to him or not? So why would he care about something like this? This was possibly the best dirt he had on Mara, and probably the best that he was going to ever get. So why was he willing to blow everything out of the water just so Mina would possibly, just maybe, talk to him again?

Mina could feel his eyes burning holes in the back of her head, but she refused to let him know that she knew that he was staring at her by turning around to look at him. She just kept sketching away in her book. She was trying to figure something out inside of her head. Why had Jerome seemed to trying to throw Mara under the bus about something?

Why was she even wondering about him? He was with Mara, and if he was that kind of guy in a relationship, she didn't want to know. She didn't want to care, and she most certainly didn't want him. "Miss. Martin, put away the drawing please. Pay attention to the lesson, you can doddle on your own time." Mrs. Andrews voice broke her from her thoughts. She looked up and nodded, silently closing her sketch book and putting it back inside of her bag.

Classes seemed to go on forever. By the time was lunch, everyone was even more exhausted. In the rec room was Jerome and Mara. Jerome was chuckling to himmself as he relaxed on the couch while he watched as Mara scraped the dozen pieces of chewed gum off of his shoe. "I just don't know how I managed to get all that stuff on them." Jerome says with fake innocent to her.

He had obviously walked in the on purpose, Mara knew that much. She knew that he was upset over not being able to tell Mina the truth, but she had to protect herself. She didn't want to ruin her friendship with Mick. "It doesn't even make sense how one shoe could step in so much gum." Mara said annoyed as she tried to get another piece off of the shoe.

"Just unlucky I guess." Jerome said to her with a shrug. Mara narrowed her eyes at him with a scoff as she went back to scraping off the gum. Jerome heard chatter and looked up to see both Alfie and Mina coming into the room together.

"Has anyone seen my gum?" Alfie came into the room asking as he and Mina looked from Jerome to Mara. Mina quickly looked at the floor upon meeting Jerome's gaze. Alfie saw on the table pieces of gum and knew that it was his. "Hmm." He said as he got closer and picked up a piece. "Thought I left it in the science lab." Alfie said as he popped the piece of gum into his mouth.

"Alfie, no!" Both Mara and Mina shouted out in disgust as they watched him put the chewed piece of gum inside of his mouth. Jerome just chuckled away as Alfie looked at the girls with an eye roll before taking the seat next to Jerome on the couch.

Mina looked back and saw Amber enter the room, and boy did she not look happy. "Hey, Mara. What's going on between you and Mick? You were acting very strange earlier." Amber blurted out as she came up to them. Mina stayed silent as she watched the interaction. She too had wanted to know the answer to that question.

Jerome looked up at her, hoping that this worked out in his favor. Mara looked worriedly at Jerome before looking up at Amber with a deer caught in the head lights look. "Nothing. Amber, please, let it go. I'm not even tutoring him anymore." Mara tried to explain to her. Mina and the others watched as Amber went to Mara's bag and pulled out her French test before Mara even knew what was going on. "Hey! That's private." Mara exclaimed as she saw what Amber was doing and went to get the test back from Amber.

It was too late though, Amber had both Mick and Mara's test in her hands. The room went silent as Amber read over both of the tests. Mina glanced at the boys to see that they were both very interested in what was going to happen between Mara and Amber. "Funny. You and Mick must be like psychically linked or something." Amber said with a snarl in her tone as she glared daggers at Mara. She couldn't believe this girl!

"Busted."

Mara turned on Jerome so quickly, anger screaming from her eyes. "You creep. You did this." Mara couldn't believe him. Mina watched them confused. What was going on here? She moved over to Amber and looked over her shoulder. She noticed that both test's hand writing was the same and that the answers were both the same as well.

Her jaw had mentally dropped to the floor in shock. Mara had cheated for Mick! "I never said a world. Promise." Jerome said to her as he held up his hand in surrender. For once he was innocent. Mina spared him a confused glance, as did Amber. How could Mara be standing her blaming Jerome for something that she had done?

"Why are you calling him a creep? You're the creep, stealing my boyfriend by helping him cheat." Amber said angrily to Mara, suddenly disgusted with her friend. She had thought that Mara being interested in Mick was bad enough, but to have her do this? That was unforgivable.

Mara looked at Mina for help, but Mina was as disgusted with her as Amber was. How could Mara do this just because she wanted Mick to like her? Mara was smart, and pretty, she didn't need to cheat to get the guy. "I am not stealing your boyfriend, and Mick doesn't know anything about it." Mara confessed to Amber, hoping that Amber would just drop this. Everything was blowing up in her face, she was just happy that Mick wasn't present in the room right now.

Mina looked over at Jerome, an equal amount of disgust on her face as she met his eyes. How could he go along with this? How could he not tell someone, a teacher, or very least her? Jerome's expression had dropped, Mina wasn't happy with him. "What? I don't get it?" Amber turned to Jerome for answers. He seemed to be in the know here, maybe he could shed some light on this.

Jerome's stare stayed locked with Mina, a helpless look playing on his face. He could tell that she wanted answers as well though. As he turned to Amber, his expression hardened. "I would have very much loved this part right now." Jerome said, glancing at Mina to give her a quick pleading look before looking back at Amber. "She did it for him secretly." Jerome told her.

Mara looked at him as if he had betrayed her. Mina and Amber looked back at Mara, two different expressions playing on their faces. Amber was more angry with Mara, while Mina just pitied her. She lowered herself to doing this just for a guy's attention. No girl as pretty and smart as Mara should do that. No man was worth lowering theirselves down to that lower, not even someone like Mick.

"You are unbelievable. Did you really think you could get Mick by doing that?" Amber said as she put the tests down on the chair seconds before she lunged for Mara. Mina's jaw dropped with Jerome and Alfie's, a chuckle leaving Jerome's mouth as he watched the girl fight. Mara let out a yelp as Amber started shaking her.

"Ding dong, round one!" Jerome shouted out as a round of cheers filled the room. Mina jumped into motion, trying to get into the middle of the two girls. She only ended up getting involved once her own hair was pulled. This only brought on more cheers as it went from two girls pulling hair, to three.

Mick ran into the room and grabbed onto Amber first, trying to pry her off of Mina and Mara. "Let her go!" He tried to pull her off, but none of the girls were letting go. He looked over at Jerome and Alfie to see that they were just enjoying the show and not moving to help at all. "Don't just sit there, you idiots!" He calls over to them.

Jerome knew that he was right, and besides? He didn't want Mina to get hurt seriously. Everyone knew how out of hand a girl fight can get. He swatted Alfie's arm and motioned him to follow. He groaned in annoyance, but followed him anyways. "Mara, come on." He said as he pulled Mara back from Amber and Mina.

Mick picked an angry Amber up from around the waist and pulled her away. While Alfie came up from behind Mina and wrapped his arms around her, stopping her from struggling. "Get off me!" Mara spun around and slapped Jerome's hands off of her. She so did not want Jerome's hands on her at all. This was all of his fault in her mind.

Mina's struggling had come to a stop once she saw Jerome and Mara's expressions. Mick was just plain confused as to why the fight had even started. Why would Amber start a fight with Mina and Mara in the first place? "What? What are you doing?" Mick asked her. Amber was still calming down from what had just happened.

Why was she not surprised to see him taking Mara's side? Wait until he sees what his precious little Mara did though. Then we'll see who he's defending in the end. "That's right, take her side. Just because she cheated for you . . ." Amber said as she grabbed the tests to show Mick. Alfie and Jerome knew that it was time to get away from those three. Alfie nudged Mina along and led her over to the couch with Jerome. "Doesn't mean you have to defend her." Amber says as she lets Mick look over the two tests for himself.

Mina glances as Jerome, an uncertain look in her eyes as she locked gazes with him. Her hair was everywhere and sweater was slipping off of her shoulder. Jerome just thought that she looked even more cuter with her pout. His grin disappeared when he noticed her expression. He wasn't out of the woods yet with Mina it seemed.

Mara stood waiting for what Mick had to say to her. She bit her lip nervously as she looked up at him. He looked up at him, his expression hurt. He couldn't believe her. "Is this true?" He asked her. How could she have done this to him. She had seen how happy he had been when he saw the grade.

How could she let him believe that he had done something right, when in reality? He had failed miserably. "I was just trying to help. Your answers were so . . . wrong." Mina winced. That was so not the right way to say that to Mick.

Mara was just digging her hole deeper by the minute it seemed. Mina just hoped that she could get out of it before she's buried alive. "Do you really think I'm so thick, that I can't do anything without your help?" As much as Mina hated what Mara had done, this was killing her to watch. Mick deserved to be mad though, and she deserved to be yelled at by him, but the look on both of their faces just broke her heart.

"No, of course not. Not . . . anything." Mara said to him, still eating her foot more after each word leaves her lips.

"I could get kicked out of school for this." Mick says as he tosses the papers onto the chair, disappointment playing in his eyes. How could Mara do this to him? Doesn't she know what could happen if Mr. Sweet or any other teacher found out that she had done this? Mara looked as if her heart had been ripped out and stomped on as Mick wrapped his arm around Amber. "Come on." He said sadly as he led Amber out at the room.

"Mara." Mara looked back down at Jerome. "You missed a spot." He told her, motioning toward his shoes. Mina gasped, anger flowing through her as she picked up a near by pillow and swatted the back of Jerome's head with it. "Ow, okay, I get it. Not the time, but I'm not going to walk around with gym all over my shoes." Jerome exclaimed as he head his head in pain.

Mina just rolled her eyes as she went over to Mara. As much as she was disappointed in her, that didn't mean that she should be treated like dirt. "Come on, lets go get you cleaned up." She grabbed Mara's things before she hooked her arm around Mara's and led her out of the room. She glanced back at Jerome, her eyes sad as they met his confused expression. She just shook her head and left the room with Mara in tow.


	19. The Game Has Began

Sorry for the long wait, but I think the muse is finally back for this fiction, at least for the moment. How do you guys think Jerome should try to win over Mina? Any suggestions, I'm open to them all. I do not own anything in this story, besides Mina, everything else belongs to their rightful owners.

Chapter 19

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Sitting on the stone ledge gave her the perfect view of the fountain. She had woken up really early and gotten ready for the day. She had gotten a bowl of cereal and headed out for a walk before classes. She knew that waking up this early was going to bite her in but later on, but she needed to get some fresh air. Last night she was hit with a lot. Everything that she had thought was spinning backwards.

Mara was cheating on tests for Mick, and Jerome wasn't even dating her at all. He was just keeping her secret, though it did cost her by doing his, and occasionally Alfie's, chores. That didn't surprise her though, it was Jerome after all. What surprised her though, was that he had stayed true to his promise to her, no matter what Mara had thought other wise.

As Mina sketched away, she thought about the past few weeks. Everything has completely flipped around since that plane ride to England. Her and Nina went from being best friends, sisters, to hardly talking at all. They lived in the same house, yet they hardly said more than five words to the other. They use to tell each other everything, but now she's keeping a major secret from her.

What happened to the girl who had she told everything to her? What happened to her sister, the girl who she could trust with every little secret that she's ever had? She missed staying up late on Saturday nights with her and just talking to her for hours on end. She also missed their movie nights where they would just hang out in one of their rooms and relax. She wanted her family back.

She could really use someone to talk to, but who could she turn to? Nina's obviously out of the question since she's never alone long enough to get out more than three words out. Mara was going through her own drama, and Patricia was as well with her mystery guy. Amber probably wouldn't even listen past the first few minutes. Mick was a sports guys, he doesn't do heart to heart talks. Fabian would be her only real possible choice, but he was always with Nina. Besides, after the whole kiss incident? She wanted to stay very far away from him.

Jerome was just simply not even an option since basically all of her problems revolved mainly around him. Would Alfie even take her seriously? Besides, he's Jerome's best friend. He would surely tell him everything the second that she was out of sight. Wouldn't he? "You know, thinking while drawing really works for you, Mina." Mina jumped at the voice. She looked up to see Alfie standing in front of her.

Alfie had seen her leave the house when he woke up. He was curious and wanted to see what she was doing. It had taken him a few minutes to find her, since she had had the few minutes head start, but he had managed pretty well. She was in deep thought when he appeared. She didn't even notice that he standing two feet away from her until he had said something to her. "What are you doing up so early?" She asked out to him.

Alfie usually wasn't up so early, but a guy can only take so much sleep talk from his best friend in one night. Ever since Mara, Mina, and Amber's girl fight, he's been muttering to himself. Mara and Mina had spent the afternoon talking in her room because there would be no chance for an interruption since she didn't have a room mate. They had eaten supper in her room as well, never giving Jerome a chance to pull her aside to talk to her. "I have my mornings, though I do believe Mrs. Andrews will have to be her best today if she doesn't want to hear my snoring." Alfie chuckled softly to her.

Mina giggled quietly as she finished up her sketch. Alfie glanced over her shoulder to see her drawing. It was of the old fountain again. He's seen her drawing it a couple times during lunch before. She drew the fountain a lot, but it always at a different angle and with different lightings to it. Drawing seemed to be her escape from the world, just like jokes and pranks were his.

Mina looked up from her drawing, a lop sided grin on her face as she looked up at her friend. "I didn't peg you as the early rising type." She said to him with a tilt of her head. "Though I'm not complaining. I hate being alone for a long time. I don't like the silence, you know? It's just . . . it just makes you realize that you really are alone. Do you ever feel like that, Alfie?" She knew that it was pretty deep question to ask him, but she honestly wanted to know what he thought.

Alfie had never been asked anything like that before. He didn't really know how to answer her. He had never really thought about it. Living in the Anubis house meant that it was never quiet, especially when your best friend was Jerome Clarke. It was different when he was at home though. His parents were never home much, meaning that he was on his own for a lot of the time. "When I'm at home, yeah I guess I do. Here, though? Here, it's different. Jerome and all of of the others are like my other family, you know? Even when some of us are fighting, we still have each other's back when the support is needed." Alfie explained to her. She had never thought about it like that before.

Now that she really thought about it, though, she knew that Alfie was right. How many times has she seen the others cover for each other? When Patricia had woken up screaming, everyone had come to check on her. Even with the Mara situation, Alfie was right. Jerome had had major dirt on Mara, and had even gotten her to do his chores because he had held it over her head, but he was never going to tell anyone. He was many things, but he wasn't a rat, especially when it came to the Anubis house mates.

Like at the party, everyone had covered for the other with Victor. When Robby had advanced on her, they all had been there to kick him out, even Patricia. She had stepped in when Robby cornered her in the hall as well. "I never thought about it like that before, but you're right, Alfie. I just feels like I'm not there yet. I mean even Nina's fitting in more than I am. I feel like I'm a stranger in a house of some big family. Nina's got Fabian and Amber, but I don't have anyone. I mean Mara and I talked for a while yesterday, but we're not suddenly best friends. If anything, I feel further apart from Nina than before." Mina confessed to her friend. Alfie had soon taken the spot next to her to sit on.

Alfie didn't know how she could think that. Mina was both his and Jerome's friends, though he knew that Jerome wished that they were more than just friends. Mick just adored her to little pieces. He loved her like a little sister, they could all see that. He was protective of her in an older brother way, always worrying about her eating habits, or lack of, and who she was hanging out with. Amber just loved having another girl to talk to about girl things, and Mara had another girl to talk to in the house that would actually listen to her. Fabian was like Mick, he thought of Mina like a little sister that he needed to protect. He wasn't sure where Patricia stood with Mina though.

He loved having her as a friend. They weren't as close as him and Jerome were, but it was nice to have another person in the house to talk to. He couldn't see him talking to any of the others about what he and Mina were talking about right now though. Not even him and Jerome had conversations like this before. "You couldn't be anymore wrong about that, Mina." Alfie told her, causing her to look at him confused. "You might not see it, but you're part of the Anubis family just as much as anyone else living there. Believe me, we've all got your back." Alfie told her.

Mina smiled softly to herself as Alfie scooted over and wrapped his arm around her shoulder, holding her close as he hugged her. She giggled quietly and wrapped her arms around his waist. So maybe she was wrong before, she had at least Alfie to talk to. "You know, Alfie, you're not that bad of a friend to talk to. Though, I do prefer the joking Alfie just as much as this one." Mina laughed out to him as they stayed in the hug.

Alfie found himself blushing madly, but he cleared his throat to make sure that she didn't notice. He looked over at the fountain. What did she find so interesting about it? Was there just something there that he doesn't see? "What do you find so interesting about that fountain? You draw it a lot." Alfie asked out to her curiously.

Mina pulled back from Alfie's embrace and looked up at him confusion, though amusement played on her features. Why did she draw the fountain so much? Why was it so interesting to her? Was there even a reason for her obsession with it? "I guess it's just interesting to me. I never draw it at the same angle, so it's always new, but then again it's not." She told him. "It's the same, but it just different too. It symbolizes this place for me, I guess. I mean everything was so different when Nina and I first got here. It's like we're still us, but we're also different too now." She tried to explain it to him the best that she could, but it even sounded majorly confusing to her. "Does that make any sense?" Mina turned to look at him.

He kind of understood what she had said, but not entirely. He would have to agree with her on one thing though. She was not like she was when she had first gotten to the school at all. She hadn't really talked to him or the others much, Nina had done a lot of the talking back then. She had warmed up to them though. She actually talked to them, this conversation being a good example of that. "Not really, but if it does to you? Then it must make some sense." Alfie told her.

Mina gave him a small smile, appreciating that attempt at understanding her. "We should probably head back before we're missed." Mina said out suddenly to him. Alfie gave her a curious look, but shrugged as he hopped down from the ledge. He held out his hand to her for her to take. "Well, aren't you just the gentleman." She laughed out to him as she placed her hand in his and let him help her down.

She grabbed her things before turning to Alfie .He had his arm out, motioning for her to take it. She giggled out as she looped her arm around his. "I have my moments, I guess." Alfie told her, shoot her a wink. Mina laughed out as they start walking back toward the house. "Don't tell Jerome that, or he'll think that I'm trying to make a move on you." Alfie laughed as they start back toward their home.

Mina shot him a confused look, but it was ignored as Alfie was looking at something else now. What did it matter if Jerome thought that he was making a move on her at all? She wasn't Jerome's property, she wasn't even his girl, so what if another boy made a move on her. It's her decision, is it not? "I think that you're safe, Alfie. Jerome doesn't get a say on my life. We're hardly even friends." Mina told him, trying to sound sure of herself.

Alfie didn't believe her though, and the fact that she was biting her lip was proof enough that she was lying. Now the question is, what does he do with this information that he had just learned, though he doubted that Mina even knows that she had given him anything? Did he go against her trust in him and tell Jerome that he had got a chance with her and needed to make a move fast? Or should he just let Jerome realize that on his own?

Mina entered her history class alone. She and Alfie had split up after first period since they had different classes. She could honestly say that she felt a lot better after talking to him, even they didn't really talk about what was bothering her. At least, she didn't think that they did. Was the whole feeling left out thing really what was really bothering her deep down?

She was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she hadn't even realized that someone had taken the seat next to her. "Well, hello there, luv." She found herself jumping out of her skin at that voice. She looked over with a nervous expression to see that it was Robby now sitting next to her.

She didn't know what to say or do. She'd managed to avoid Robby for a while. She was never alone, always with someone from the house. She was alone though. He had taken advantage of that. "You need to leave, Robby. I have nothing to say to you." She told him. He didn't seem to get the hint though. He took a hold of her hand, causing her to wince at his grip.

He hated knowing that she had ended things, not the other way around. That git Clarke and his buddy Lewis made bloody sure that he, nor anyone else, was going to forget that either. "Now, luv, lets not be rude. I just want to talk to you is all." He told her. She scoffed. As if that was all her wanted to do.

As much as she so wanted to talk to him, she was even more pleased when she heard a throat clearing in front of them. She looked up to see Jerome hovering over her desk, which she had ust realized was usually his and Alfie's table. He didn't not seem pleased to see Robby with her, nor his hand gripping her own. "I don't seem to remember you being in this class, mate. I'd get lost if I was you. Now." He warned him. Robby glared at him for another minute before backing down.

He released her hand with a toss and stormed out of the room. Jerome stood there smugly, happy to see the git leave. He gave him a mock wave when he saw the boy look back at them as he was leaving the room. He was about to go and sit down next to her when he froze. She was getting up from her seat to move as well. "Thanks for the save, Jerome, but I'm still not talking to you. You blackmailed Mara, that was pretty low. Even if you did keep your promise about not telling anyone." She told him before she left to go sit in her normal seat.

He opened up his mouth to say something, but was cut off by Mr. Winkler walking in with Alfie right behind him. He, reluctantly, sat down in his own seat. He glanced over to Mina to see that she was tensed up and forcing herself to stay looking forward and not look back at him. "Right. Everyone settle down please." Mr. Winkler called out as everyone got into their seats. "Okay, um, before we start the class the school is having a perspective parent's day next week and I would like some volunteers to help me the outside world what a talented bunch you all are." He explained to the class.

He was about to go on when the door to the class room opened and a woman and her own class started to come inside. It was Miss. Robertson, their PE teacher. Jerome took the slight distraction to look over at Mina. She was whispering something to Mara. The two glanced back at him for a moment before going back to talking. Now that got him curious. What could they both be possibly whispering about that related him?

He glanced down to see Alfie's shoe lace untied. He couldn't help himself. It was just too rick to pass up. While the boy next to him wasn't paying him any attention, he leaned down and tied his shoe lace to the table. As instructed, they both got up and gathered their things to go to the drama studio. Alfie went to leave, but found himself falling on his face with a yelp. "Alfie!" Mina shouted out.

She hurried to his side to see if he was okay. Jerome quickly undid the shoe lace before joining her. "You alright, mate?" He asked his friend. Alfie knew that his shoe had just been tied to the table. He knew that his blond friend knew that he knew that too. He glanced between his two friends to see that Jerome had a plan running.

He probably didn't even plan on this part. Alfie knew that Mina not talking to Jerome was killing the boy. He would never admit that, but what were best friends for? He decided to then play along. "Just fine. Why don't you both go on ahead. I'll be right behind you." He told them. Mina looked hesitant on leaving him behind and going with Jerome, but she didn't get a chance to object.

Jerome had happily answered for her and picked her up onto her feet and practically dragged her out of the class room. The two walked in silence for a minute, but it was long enough to drive him insane. "You know that you're going to talk to me sooner or later, Mina." He taunted her. He only got silence in return though. He groaned in annoyance and thought quick.

He threw his hand out, knocking her books out of her hands in the process. "Jerome! Really? Are you five?" She snapped at him as she stopped and bent down to retrieve her things from the floor. Jerome crouched down to help her. He reached out to get one of her books, but only ended up pulling his hand back when she swatted at it. "Go away, Jerome." She growled out.

He didn't listen to her though. "Not until you bloody talk to me." He told her. He wasn't lying either. He wasn't going to go away until she finally talked to him for real again. He didn't know why he cared so bloody much, but he just did. He picked up her sketch book to see that it was open. He glanced at it to see that it was a sketch of him and Alfie joking around outside.

She snatched the book away from him before he could get a good look at any of her drawings. They were privet, especially from him. "We're going to be late." She told him as she picked up the last of her things and began walking again. Jerome stared after her. What was it going to take to get her to forgive him? He didn't even fully understand why it was that she was mad at him for.

He sighed and raised up to his feet before following after her. He wasn't going to give up though. He was going to keep to his word. He wasn't going to leave her alone until she started really talking to him again. He watched her retreating form. She wasn't going to give up on her cold shoulder toward him easily though, and he surprisingly didn't hate that. The game was on it seemed, and this time he was going to be the one winning.


	20. Rutter's Girls, dead and alive

Sorry for the extra long wait! Did anyone hear that the second season is coming in early January? I'm so excited! More Jerome! I do not own anything in this fiction, besides Mina, everything else belongs to their rightful owners.

Chapter 20!

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The next morning had come, and Mina had come stumbling into the kitchen very tiredly. She had gotten a call from Max and the two had stayed up late just talking on the phone. Well, it was late for her. It had to be at least morning for him back in America. She had missed her friends back home, especially him. She just wished that time zones didn't exist. Like, at all. She was so tired, she didn't even notice that she had interrupted a secret conversation between her cousin, Fabian, and Amber.

Nina seemed to know right away why her cousin was so tired. She would only be able to look so happy, yet completely exhausted at the same time, when she talked to one person. "How's Max?" She asked out to her. She glanced back at the two behind her to silently tell them that they'd continue their conversation later on. The boy nodded his head in agreement.

Mina looked up at her cousin tired and gave her a look. "Max is fine, thank you very much. He says hi." She told her as she took the box of cereal from her cousin and poured herself a bowl. Fabian looked at the two girls confused. Who was Max, and why was he saying 'hi' to Nina? Amber just seemed to get excited to hear Mina talking about a boy.

She's been so down the past few days, and she blamed it on the boys. Mina just didn't know how to choose the right ones. Not like she did. She finally had Mick back, and they were both perfectly happy together again, she wasn't about to do anything to screw that up. "Ooohhh! Who's this Max, Mina? I want details!" Amber said out to her as she grabbed onto the girl's free hand and dragged her out of the room right as Mick was coming inside.

None of them had noticed the other new addition to the room. Mick had just looked back at the two girls as they passed by him in utter confusion before grabbing an apple and leaving the room again with a quick 'good bye' to Nina and Fabian. "So, who's this Max character?" Fabian asked the girl beside him. She rolled her eyes and shook her head as she started to clean up her mess.

Fabian was asking her about some guy back home when they should be trying to figure out the next clue? For some reason Nina couldn't help but laugh at that. He was jealous, not because of Mina, but because Nina seemed to know the block as well. "Him and Mina are best friends, have been since we were all kids. They went out for a while, but it had ended badly. They made up though and went back to being friends. Max is basically her life line. He's always been there for her. He keeps her from completely shattering when things get bad." Nina explained to him.

Fabian nodded his head. It had to really be something to know that someone was out there to keep you grounded. Everything been a disaster lately for a lot of the Anubis housemates, it was good to know that you had someone there to help you up if you needed a hand. Though, Fabian was fairly sure that someone else would like to be there for Mina, someone who just happened to be in the same house as her and on the same side of the world as her.

Mina, Amber, and Mick had all went into the class room together. Mick was trying to get Amber to spend more time with him, but she was obviously trying to hide something from them both. Mina knew that it had to do with whatever she, Fabian, and Nina were hiding from her. She wasn't going to push the matter in front of Mick though. She wasn't that low to hurt Amber in the process.

She took her seat next to Mara, ignoring Jerome in the back row as well. She still wasn't talking to him. He glanced over in her direction for a moment, rolling his eyes when he saw her still ignoring him. "A picnic." Amber said out cheerfully to her boyfriend. "I love picnics." She told her him. She was now excited for lunch, though now she had to find a way to tell Nina she couldn't meet up with her and Fabian.

Mick took a deep breath as he knew that if he wanted any extra time with his girl, that he would have to do this. Picnic's weren't his thing, but this was for Amber. She had wanted one, and if that meant he would be able to actually get to see her and spend some time with her? Then, so be it. "A picnic? Yeah, okay." He said slowly to her as he sat down beside her.

Behind them were Jerome and Alfie, whom neither looked quite happy. Jerome had noticed that his friend next to him was glaring at the back of Mick's head. He gave him a good pat on the back in mock happiness. "Poor, Alfie. Operation Amber is definably no picnic." He whispered over to his friend smugly.

He glanced over at Mina again only to see her talking to Mara quietly about something. Homework most likely. That was basically the only thing those two had in common. They were both brains, not that he minded. He, much to everyone elses thoughts, liked a girl who could use her brain. He doubted that the two had very much in common other than that though. "Neither is Operation Mina then, I suppose." Alfie whispered back to his friend upon seeing him looking over at their American friend.

That made him grumble. "Okay, settle down everyone please." Mr. Winkler said out to the class as he entered the room. Jerome gave his friend another pat on the back to get his attention back on the class. "Right. Lets talk, perspective parent's day, shall we? Seeing how there's been a poor show of volunteers, I've decided to alicate you with tasks myself." He announced out to the room. A round of groans were heard through out the room upon hearing that. "You'll all find that I've abdicated to your academic strengths." He informed the students, hoping that that would have made some sort of an effect.

Jerome sat smugly in his seat. He was hoping that, that meant that he would be able to get more time with Mina. He glanced over at his friend beside him really quickly to see him still upset over Amber and Mick. He might at least show his friendly support for his friend. "That's Mick doing nothing then." He said out to the class, causing the room to erupt into a round of laughter. Especially from Alfie, until Mick turned around and shot him a dirty look.

Mina looked back as well to see Jerome sitting in his seat, completely relaxed as he smirked right back at Mick. His eyes flickered over to her and his grin grew when he saw her give him a look. He could see that she was laughing on the inside, but holding in because of her friendship with Mick and urge to stick up for him. She rolled her eyes at him and turned back around. Thinking that he couldn't see her though, she secretly snickered a little. Jerome did see her though, and he chuckled softly when he saw her smile.

Mina was walking toward the lounge when she suddenly stopped inside of the doorway. She could see that Nina and Fabian inside researching something while they talked to Amber across from them. "Hey! What about this?" She heard Fabian say out as he showed Nina something on his laptop. "Partial eclipse. Mid-day sunset." He told her.

Mina's facial expression scrunched up in confusion. Why on earth were they looking up Eclipses? It couldn't be for a project. She's in the same class as them, and as far as she knew? There was no such project assigned. "You know, Alfie, I think we might be starting to rub off on little Mina." She jumped a mile out of her skin as she spun around to face Jerome and Alfie coming toward her. The blond had a skeleton in his arm, which confused her to no end on why. Though, she was sure that she didn't really want to know. "Listening in on conversations, are we, luv?" He asked out to her.

She didn't satisfy him with an answer though. She just simply rolled her eyes at him and went inside of the room, with them following right behind her no doubt. "You've got it." She had heard her cousin say out to Fabian. This only got her so much more curious. What had he gotten? Why was the eclipse so important to the three of them?

Jerome and Alfie seemed to be just as curious about what the three teens already inside of the room were all talking about as she was. Or almost, since she had heard more of the conversation then they both had. "Got what?" He asked out to them. The three teens turned to looked up at the new presences in the room.

The three looked far too happy, especially since the trio included Amber, just because of some moon thing. Anything with school and Amber didn't usually mix well. "Looks, brains, charms, you know, all those things you don't have . . . Jerome." Fabian said out as he looked up at him. He trailed off confused as he saw the skeleton in the blond's arm.

The blond boy had obviously known that he was lying, as did the two brunette near him. He could see that things still hadn't changed for the two American cousins. Nina was still hiding something from Mina, and now not only was Rutter in on it, but Amber was too now as well. "Haha, your girlfriend was missing you, Rutter." He teased the boy, shoving the skeleton into the boy's face. "Kiss me. Kiss me, darling." He laughed out. Fabian pushed the thing away from him, the three going back to their research in silence. Jerome's smile faded the second that he had seen the recorder Alfie and he had tampered with the day before. "Alfie. . . ." He trailed off.

"Oh . . ."

They needed to get out of there quick. He glanced over at his partner in crime, then past him to the girl beside him who was watching him with confusion. "Well, as stimulating as your non conversation maybe to each other . . . it's a little bit dull for the likes of us. So . . . Alfie's gonna go kick up a storm somewhere else, and Mina and I are going to go have a chat . . . somewhere else as well." The three didn't look up at them again.

Mina opened her mouth to protest, but she was being dragged off by Jerome before she could even utter a letter. Nina looked up briefly with a small smile. It was about time that she helped her cousin out like she had helped her with Fabian. She looped her arm through his, letting her head rest on his shoulder. She really did owe Mina in the long run. "Later, guys!" Alfie waved them off. Mina looked at him with a betrayed expression. He was just letting Jerome drag her off basically. He dragged her all the way to the fountain, which for some reason was very deserted and student free.

Once they had gotten to the fountain, she had had enough of the dragging her around thing that he had going on. She yanked her arm away from him. "That's far enough, Jerome. You wanted to chat, well, then go ahead and chat!" She snarled at him. He was taken back for a moment. She had been so shy when he had first met her. Now, she wasn't talking to him at all, and it wasn't because she was shy.

He suddenly didn't know what he had wanted to say to her. All he could think about was that she was actually waiting for him to say something to her. She was waiting for an apology or something. Well, bloody hell, she wasn't going to get one. She was the one who had jumped to conclusions. She had been the one that didn't just ask him what was going on between himself and Mara. He would have gladly explained to her, without actually giving Mara up either. "Not a bloody thing." He muttered out.

She looked at him confused. Did she just hear him right? He had dragged her all the way out here, and he had nothing, not one single thing, to actually say to her? Not one thing? Seriously? "Nothing. You have nothing to say to me, at all? Not one little word?" She couldn't believe him! She was soo going to aim what ever Trudy made them for dinner at his head tonight.

His expression then turned smug right before her very eyes. He was actually enjoying this! "Exactly, not a word." She opened her mouth to tell him off, but he cut her off by motioning to her that he had more to say. ". . . because, there is not a word to say that should be coming from these amazing lips." He pointed to his lips, causing her to scoff in annoyance. "Now yours, on the other hand. Well, luv, they do have a word that needs to be said." He told her.

She looked at him in shock. He thought that she needed to apologize to him! No way is that _ever_ happening. "I don't so, Jerome. No way." She told him, standing strong in front of him. She was being stubborn, and they both knew it. That was one of the things he liked about her though. She wasn't about to give up, not even when she was, in fact, wrong.

He couldn't help, but just chuckle when he saw her expression. This had only seemed to upset her even more though. He was laughing at her now! "You are so bloody stubborn, Mina. So bloody stubborn." He chuckled to her. She scoffed, and turned to leave to go back to the house. She was not listening to this. "Mina . . . wait!" He grabbed out for her wrist, catching it in his grasp at the last second.

He spun her around to face him, pulling her slightly closer to him. Her breath caught in her throat as she stared up at him. It was moments like this that she remembered how much taller he was than her. He also had the bluest eyes that she had ever seen before. "If you're gonna kiss me . . ." His eye brows raised at the mention of kissing her. She was thinking about kissing him? His grin grew as he started to lean toward her, tilting his head to the side to get at a better angle. He was about an inch away from her lips when she put her free hand on his chest. ". . . don't." She whispered out to him.

His expression fell, his body frozen in shock. He was stunned. In that one instant, she had looked so broken. It was then that he realized that he was the cause of that fact. She took this moment of shock as her chance to leave. She pulled her hand from his grip and left him there alone. He didn't move stop her this time. He was still in shock. The look in her eye had caused this. He could see the hurt in her eyes. She didn't want to be hurt by him again, and that's what a kiss would do to her. "Jerome! Dude, any chance you can help a mate out here?" Alfie's voice had brought him back from his thoughts.

He then snapped out of his trance like state. He looked up to his friend and nodded his head to him. He and Alfie both walked back toward the house together. They walked into the Anubis house a few minutes after. He tried his best not to want to look for her as he past by the possible rooms that she could have been in, but it was harder not to do it. At least they weren't going too far into the house.

Alfie struggled to get into the main room with all the packed boxes in his arm. Jerome noticed Mara and Mina sharing the love seat while reading something. He needed to get her attention, without actually having to ask for it. He rushed up behind his friend and 'accidentally' knocked the boxes out of his hands. "Awwww. Dear." said Jerome mockingly to his friend.

Mara and Mina both looked up at the two, wondering what the two boys were doing now. "Hey, these are the costumes for the perspective parent's day!" Alfie yelled out to him. Mina shot up from the seat she was sharing with the other brunette and joined Jerome as he searched the box. "Mina! You're not suppose to help him!" He just didn't understand why they were making this harder for him.

She wasn't looking to help Jerome in any way though. She was just curious to see what the costumes looked like, and it didn't look good. Jerome was laughing his head off once he pulled out one of the costumes. "Suck it up, Alfie." He said as he tried to figure out what the thing in his hands was. He was having a hard time trying to do that though. "What is this?" He asked his friend.

Mina looked up at the thing in his hands and rolled her eyes. He was holding it upside down, that might be why he can't figure it out on his own. She got up onto her feet and flipped it around for him. "Please tell me you know what it is now?" She asked him as she moved the cloth aside so he could get a good look at the whole thing. He took a closer look at it and nodded his head when he figured it out.

Alfie was still excited over what Mr. Winkler had assigned for him to do. "You're just jealous, because Jason asked me to preform . . ." Alfie started, pausing as he moved around like a robot. ". . . instead of you." He said as he pointed to Jerome.

Mina saw the hurt look cross over Jerome's face. It was gone before she could blink though. She glanced at Alfie to see that he hadn't caught the look like she had. She wonder what was going on in Jerome's head at the moment. "Awe, yeah. A bunch of boring parents with no taste what-so-ever, is really my idea of a . . . Ow!" He was cut off by Amber hitting his arm.

"That . . ." She had stormed into room, with both Nina and Fabian following in behind her. "Is for going through my stuff, and that . . ." She hit Alfie as well. ". . . is for recording over my files." Amber said out angrily. To say that the three newest presences in the room were not happy with the two prankster friends, would definably be an understatement.

Amber gave Jerome another hit. "Ow! What was that for?" He asked her. Mina giggled at the blond's expression. That was kind of really funny to watch, and by the sound of it? They had both soo deserved it. She had to wonder now if this was the reason they had been so antsy to leave the room earlier. Amber seemed to be rather enjoying herself now. "Just for fun." She told him. Mina took a step closer to him and gave him a good hit to the arm.

"Ow! Mina!"

She felt a lot better now after giving his arm a good beating, though the blond girl next to her had done most of the damage. Amber was right, though, it was fun. She looked over and saw that even Mara was laughing about this. "Amber's right. That is fun!" She beamed as she said that.

The laughter had died down after a minute. Mina looked over to her cousin to see that she and Fabian were the only ones, besides Jerome, who hadn't laughed at what she had said at all. "So, how much did you hear? Or, understand?" Nina had asked the two boys. Her cousin looked at her confused, but she just ignored her. This really wasn't time for them to fight over this.

Alfie and Jerome could know something that could really hurt them all if they said anything to anyone. "Well, if you must know, we only heard that one bit. And you, by the way, have some really weird taste in recorded books, Millington." Jerome told them. Mina watched curiously as Nina and Amber shared a secret smile. All three of the teens from their group were excited about the fact that Jerome had said that is was a 'recorded book'.

Mina had a hunch that the 'recorded book' wasn't really a book at all. She didn't get a chance to ask them any questions though, because Mick had arrived, and boy did he not look happy at all. She glanced down at the basket in the boy's hand. Mina's eyes widened when she realized what must have happened. "Hi, Boo, I . . ." She stopped the second that she had seen his expression. "I am soo sorry. Something . . ." Amber started to tell him.

He wasn't going to hear it from her though. "We're done, Amber, and I hate it when you call me boo." Mick took off to his room afterward. The three girls were all shocked, as were the others in the room. Fabian looked to his friend, wishing that he could do something. The truth was though, that nothing any of them did could fix this.

They were all in shock. Nina and Fabian felt responsible since they were the reason that Amber had been with them and not with Mick. She had told Nina all about Mick saying that he would take them on a picnic after classes, but she hadn't been fully listening to her. "Did he just dump me?" Amber felt as if her heart was breaking to millions of pieces.

It didn't seem that _all_ of the present teens were that upset with this news. "You bet he did." Jerome said out, a chuckle laced in with his tone. Mina slapped his arm the second that the words had left his lips. "Ow, enough with the 'hitting Jerome' game. It is not funny anymore." He said angrily to her as he rubbed his sore arm.

Did he think that he could say something like that and not get hit? "That was for being a rude jerk." She hissed at him before she turned to Amber. "Are you alright? Do you want to go after him? If you don't, I could go and calm him down." She said to the blond girl. Nina silently thanked her for stepping in. She didn't have a clue as to what she should advise her friend to do. Fabian was her first real boyfriend, she didn't know what to do in this case.

Mina did though. She had gone through this plenty of times with Max. When they had their big fights, one of them would run off, but the other had always gone after them to make up. It hadn't always worked though. Sometimes they had stayed broken up for a few days, weeks at most before they had made up and gotten back together not much longer after that. "What's the point. He already made his feelings pretty clear . . ." Amber looked over to see Mara watching them with interest. ". . . in front of everyone." She said, a double meaning behind her words that the dark haired girl caught onto.

She went back to reading her book. She shouldn't be jumping for joy just because Mick had broken up with had been best friends before. She knew that he had to be hurting just as much as Amber probably was at the moment. Like Mina had wanted to, she wanted to go and make sure he was alright as well. Only she couldn't, because he still wasn't talking to her. Mick still hated her for the French test incident after all.


	21. Jerome's 4 Step Plan

Thanks for the reviews! We're getting close to the good stuff! I'm about 20 episodes in I think to the season so yay! Who's ready for Minome? (their couple name until any of you can think of anything better? Suggestions are always welcome!)

I do not own anything in this chapter or fiction, besides Mina and Max, everything else belongs to their rightful owners!

Chapter 21!

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The next day, the Anubis house hold was helping their school get ready for their and their fellow student's parent's arrivals. Nina and Fabian were back at the house helping Trudy cook some sweets. While Mina was with Jerome and Alfie in the drama room setting up there. Alfie was already in his costume for the play, which luckily neither Jerome, nor Mina, were asked to be in. They only had to watch on as Alfie tried to dance like a robot.

Mina had refused to talk to Jerome, she had made it clear to him that she was just there to support her other friend. After twenty minutes of trying to get her to talk to him, he had given up on the task. He gotten up from his spot next her to, sparing her a glance as he made his way toward his friend. "See, now this is your big chance to Amber's heart, dude. She's been dumped. She's vulnerable. She needs a sensitive guy, like you, with a big shiny shoulder to cry on." He told his friend.

He glanced back over at Mina, once again, to see her roll her eyes at him. He was still set on the whole 'Get Alfie Amber' plan. She had to began to wonder if he would ever give up helping his friend with something that was most likely never going to ever happen. "Boys, they never learn." She muttered to herself as she got up and went to go see if anyone else needed any help. Jerome watched her walk away with a longing look, one of which, Alfie did not miss to notice.

His friend had it really bad for that girl. It didn't seem like he was the only one trying to win the impossible here. "Oh, I don't know man. Jason said I can't get the costume wet." Alfie hadn't seemed to get what his friend was saying. Jerome gave him a look, he was probably the harder bloke to work with, but that was why they were friends, wasn't it?

Jerome glanced over at Mina to see her helping another guy from their class set up something across the room. He gritted his teeth. That girl could be so frustrating at times. "If you want to win a girl's heart," He started to say as he circled Alfie. ". . . you have to follow my four step plan." He told him. "Step one. Attention. Make sure she notices you." He couldn't help himself by looking over again to see that Mina was looking back at him this time. "Step two. Intention. Show her you're interested, because woman want to be swept off their feet." Jerome explained to his friend.

Alfie looked between his friends. He wasn't completely clueless. He had given up his crush on Mina because he knew how his best friend felt for her, even if he hadn't said it out loud, and most likely didn't even know himself. "Be noticed. Sweep her off her feet." Alfie said out excitedly. He couldn't wait to get Amber to notice him.

His full attention was on Jerome, waiting for him to continue on with the two other steps to come. "Step three. Longing." Jerome told him. Alfie sighed, knowing that he didn't have a problem with that one, which he told his friend as much. "No. No, she has to long, for you." Jerome had made it clear to his friend. "You have to be her hero." He told him.

Saying that, made his think to himself, made him remember. How many times had he come to Mina's rescue? There were times that she didn't even know about? How many times had he basically threatened that Robby bloke before he finally got the message to stay away from her? How many potential dates had he scared off? How many times had he simply been there for her when she needed someone? One particular time came to mind.

_'At first it didn't work, but as he let go of her shoulders, she shot up with a gasp, screaming when she saw how close he was to her. She jumped back, hitting the wall to try and get as far away from him as she could. "Get away! Leave them alone!" She screamed out, still feeling as if she was in her nightmare. Jerome held up his hands in surrender, trying to show her that he wasn't going to hurt her. She had hot tears rolling down her cheeks, the tears still falling down from her eyes as she sobbed out. _

_He could see the terror in her eyes, and he knew that she thought that was still in her nightmare. "Mina, it's Jerome. It's just me, love. I won't hurt you." Jerome said out to her softly, trying to sound calm and gentle toward her. Mina flinched back from him as much as she could with her back against the head board, her head turning quickly to look at him in confusion. _

_Her expression softened when she realized who it was. "Jerome?" Her voice sounded so fragile to him, and it caused a pull on his heart. He nodded slowly to her, letting his hands slowly lower to his sides. Jerome was caught off guard when she suddenly through arms around him and sobbed into his shoulder. He froze, not knowing what to do. "It was horrible. Their screams, they were right there. I . . . I heard them." Mina sobbed out. _

_Jerome looked down at the girl clutching onto him as if she would die if he wasn't there to hold her. He hesitantly wrapped his arms around her, holding onto her as she cried. "It's alright, Mina. They won't hurt you, you're safe now." Jerome told her as he moved her over enough so that he could get onto the bed with her. She curled up into his side, fitting perfectly in his arms. Jerome's body instantly tensed up when she snuggled up to him like she did, but he had relaxed when he saw that she was calming down a little. _

_She was still crying silently, but it wasn't as bad as she had been when he had came in. He had to wonder though what she had dreamed about that was so bad that it caused her to react like this. He was surprised that no one else was coming down here to check on Mina, not even Nina was here yet. Surely Nina would hear her own family screaming and would want to find out if she alright? Minutes passed by, but yet? Still no one came to check in on Mina. He looked down and saw that Mina was staring blankly at the wall. He played with her hair, brushing it out of her face as he smoothed it down. _

_Jerome didn't know how long he was sitting in Mina's bed for when he looked down to see that Mina had fallen back a sleep. He knew that it would look bad if someone found them like this later on this morning, but he really didn't want to wake her up by moving her around so he could get up and leave. He watched as her bangs covered her eyes, her slow breathing blowing her hair as she exhaled. He chuckled softly to himself when he saw her noise twitch in annoyance. He carefully moved his arm that was wrapped around her shoulders and brushed her bangs out of her face.'_

He smiled to himself as he remembered that night. He still hadn't a clue as to what she had dreamed about, but he really didn't need to know. All he wanted to remember was holding her and watching her as she slept peacefully in his arms. As corny as it sounded, he had rather enjoyed having her sleeping in his arms. He had felt important, needed. He would never tell her any of this, nor would he ever tell anyone else, but it was true.

"Hero?"

He snapped out of his thoughts at the sound of Alfie's voice. "You need to be more of an, Iron man," He started as he placed Alfie's helmet on his friend's head slowly. ". . . then a Tin man." He told his friend. Alfie knew that he was right as he posed like a hero. Mina had just happened to look back at the two boys to see Alfie's pose. She couldn't help but giggle at the sight, causing the two boys to look over at her curiously.

She blushed and quickly went back to what ever she was doing. Alfie noticed his friend grinning to himself as he watched the brunette across the room. It would seem like he wasn't the only one trying to complete his own four step plan. "So which step are you on, mate?" He asked him. Jerome looked back at him confused. What in the bloody hell was he talking about?

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Mina had gone home to change really quick. She and Amber were going to be greeting the parents and showing them around the school. Mr Winkler had wanted them to look their best, and she had guessed that paint covered shorts and a tee shirt were not the best looking clothes around. She had bumped into her cousin and Fabian on her way toward her room.

They were doing something to the chandelier in the main hall. She didn't have the time to ask questions, since the parents would be showing up any minute it would seem. She had quickly gotten redressed and had hurried out the door again. She was hurrying down the hall to go find Amber when she suddenly froze. Jerome and Alfie were working on hanging up posters.

They hadn't noticed her yet. She took a deep breath and fixed her dress once again before continuing down the hall. At the sound of her heels, Jerome turned his head to see who was coming down the hall. "Hello, Miss Mina." He found himself saying as he looked her over. Alfie looked up as well and grinned to himself. She found herself blushing as paused once she had approached them both.

She had left her hair up in a messy bun, but she had changed into a silky green knee length baby doll dress with a cropped denim jacket over it. She looked away, brushing her stray pieces of hair back behind her ears. "You two boys seem to be doing a good job there." She told him as she stood in front of them.

"Men, Mina. Men." Jerome corrected her. She giggled and rolled her eyes at him. She had soon found herself locking eyes with him, her face softening as she got momentarily lost in his sea blue eyes. Jerome chuckled as he tilted his head to the side, giving her another look over. She really did look brilliant in green. It was truly her color.

Alfie coughed, trying to get rid of the awkwardness that he had found himself in the middle of. As much as he wanted his friend to get his girl, he surely didn't want front row seats to one of their 'loving looks'. Mina, upon realizing she had been staring, blushed even more and cleared her throat, quickly looking away from him. "You keep telling yourself that, Jerome. I should be off. I've got to find Amber. See you both later!" She said out to them as she took off down the hall.

The two boys looked on after her, one with longing in his eyes. The other with amusement inside of his own. "Man, why can none of the chicks around here take us seriously?" Alfie said out, unaware that his friend was paying him no attention. His eyes were clearly locked on the retreating girl's form walking away from them. It took a moment for him to realize that Jerome had not looked away from Mina. "Dude?" He asked out.

"I refer to my four step plan, Alfie. Heroics." He said to his friend as he watched Amber and Mina talking to some of the parents together at the end of the hall. "What do you need to become a hero?" Alfie shrugged, not having a clue as his friend turned to look at him. "A damsel in distress." He said as he looked back over at the girls. Alfie had seemed to catch on now. Jerome turned back to his friend and whispered his plan into his ear. Alfie grinned, not wasting a moment before liking the idea. The two soon took off to go get what they needed for their up-coming plan.

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Amber and Mina had just finished greeting another set of parents. They were currently sitting on the floor against the lockers and having some of Trudy's home made cookies. "Mina, you and I have to talk." Amber said to her, quite seriously. Mina looked at her confused. "Since Mick's . . . broken up with me, I've realized that you can't just take love for gran it. Now, I had thought that Nina and Fabian were going to be a problem, but it would seem that you and Jerome are fighting your love for each other." Amber didn't even blink when she had said that.

Mina, on the other hand, had almost choked on her cookie. She quickly wiped her mouth and looked at Amber with shock. Where had that come all from? She knew that Jerome didn't love her, and she certainly didn't love him much at all either. "I'm sorry, Amber, but you've got to be mistaken. I don't love, let alone very much like, Jerome, and I'm thinking the feelings are the same for him." She tried her best to explain to the blond, but it was hard to get her to understand when she had her mind set on something.

Amber just flipped her hair and sighed. Some times Mina could be so blind when it came to boys. She did seem to have a pretty bad record with the gender in the past though. "Dear, misguided, blind, Mina. This is why we're friends. You just haven't realized that you're both in love with the other. Haven't you been reading your horoscope? You both are destined to be together." Amber explained to her. Mina had opened her mouth to say something, but no words had come out in time. "Oh, look more parents to greet." She said out happily as she pulled Mina to her feet and dragged her along.

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Jerome and Alfie noticed that Amber and Min were coming back from their last tour around campus. Jerome carefully placed a container down on the table, trying not to be seen, before motioning Alfie to follow him. Amber and Mina were coming down the hall opposite of the two boys. They had walked by Mick and Mara slowly, Amber giving Mick a longing look as she did. Mina looped her arm through the blond's and continued on to explain something to the two people following them.

Amber gave her a grateful smile as she went on to explain one of the table. She trailed off when she realized that something else had caught to people's attention and they had taken off. Mina noticed Mick coming over to them and quickly excused herself before she could be stuck in the middle. She was walking away when suddenly she was grabbed around the waste. "What? Jerome! Let me go!" She called out to him as he practically dragged her outside of the school.

He dragged her over to Miss Roberson and a group of a few others. He explained to them about the smoke installations. Miss Roberson simply rolled her eyes, grabbing the books from Jerome and leading the way out of the room. Jerome put on his fireman helmet before pulling Mina along with him out of the school. She rolled her eyes at his ridiculous costume, but let him drag her behind him. She had no doubt that he was behind this.

Though, much to his displeasure, she had left his side once she was out of the school and had gone in search of Mara. It hadn't worsened his mood, though. If anything, it had only made it better when she had smiled before taking her leave. He was certain she had known that he had done this somehow, but it hadn't upset her, instead, it had made her smile. Which, was what he had wanted in the first place. "Instantly, she saw how maturely I handled the situation." Jerome whispered to Alfie as he watched Mara and Mina talking to each other about something. "I promise you, ten seconds and mission accomplished." He told his friend beside him.

He couldn't help but grin when she looked over at him. Her smile hadn't faded when she saw him looking back at her. She simply raised an eye brow at him and cocked her head to the side, as if asking him what he had done. He merely just chuckled and shook his head. Behind them, Victor had come out with their contraption, catching Sweet's attention as he waved it around.

The man in charge clapped his hands together, trying to get the attention of the large group before him. "Everyone, back inside, please." He called out to the students and parents. He went on to apologize to the visitors for the day. He turned his attention to the two guilty pranksters. "Clarke. Lewis, my office. Now." He said to them before taking off back to the school.

Their smiles had fallen from their faces. How had he even known it was them? They didn't have time to recover before Mina and Mara came up to them. "I must say, it's a grade up from the food fights during dinner." Mina laughed out. "Boys." She gave Jerome a wink before the two girls left. Jerome stared after her, a smirk playing on his lips as he watched her retreating form.

He was soon brought out of his trance like state by Alfie elbowing him in the gut to get his attention. He winced, giving his friend a sharp look. He nudged him to look a head of them. It was Amber and Mick, whom didn't look happy and like a reunited couple. ". . . we're mates. Not dates. You know what I'm saying?" He told her. Alfie seemed to shine with happiness as he watched on.

Amber looked completely heartbroken, but at least that meant that Alfie could be her shoulder cry on when she needed it. "Yeah, I know what you're saying." She told him, trying to be strong and not to cry in front of him. She really did truly love him, and she did really want him back. It didn't seem like he wanted her back as well though. Mick didn't say anything more as he left. She had finally noticed Alfie and Jerome as she approached them both. "Thanks a bunch for ruinin' everything!" She yelled at Alfie. "Again." She said as she stormed off, leaving the two boys speechless, and in Alfie's case? Heartbroken as well.

Jerome had tried to hide his laughter, but it was harder said then done. Alfie let his head drop as he went to follow her lead inside of the school. Jerome did feel bad for his friend, though, he did find it comical. It was Amber they were talking about, some of the things she said could just make you laugh without her even meaning it to.

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Mina was alone, for once, in the living room doing her home work that she'd been putting off for a while. Nina and Fabian were locked away in her and Amber's room, doing who knows what. Amber was with them as well, so that kind of shortened the list of possibilities. Mick had gone out for a run to cool off after he told Amber it was completely over, and Mara and Patricia were off doing their own things.

And as far as she knew? Jerome and Alfie were still in Mr Sweet's office getting their punishment for today's smoke stunt. She had to admit, she was thankful for it. She did not want to do another tour around the school. They had wasted enough time with their prank to make it so there wasn't enough time for another tour, so therefore, she was grateful.

She was too caught up in her thoughts and her homework to hear the front door closing, with chatter following in after it. Jerome and Alfie were back, and they weren't exactly happy as they had been the last time she had seen them. Jerome glanced inside of the room to see a familiar head of brown hair. He motioned to Alfie that he'd be parting from him. Alfie glanced inside of the room to see the brunette alone and nodded, understanding completely as he continued on to their room.

Jerome turned and headed inside of the room soundlessly, not that it mattered. She had her headphones in, and he could practically hear the song she was listening to perfectly from where he stood. He leaned over her shoulder to see that she was doing english homework. He slid the ear piece out of her ear slowly. "Why are you doing homework from two weeks ago?" She asked her.

She screamed, falling forward out of the seat. She would have hit the floor is he hadn't grabbed onto her arm and pull her back. She twisted around from the tug on her arm, and was now facing him as she sat on her knees in the seat. " Jerome, that was so not funny." She glared at him, causing him just to chuckle.

He shrugged as he now hovered over her. She had to crane her neck up to keep her eyes locked with his. He grinned upon seeing her flushed cheeks and cocked his head to the side. "Yeah," He whispered softly to her. "It kind of was." He chuckled to her. She rolled her eyes at him, but she did manage to give him a small smile.

She was lost at words for a moment before slowly sat down in her seat again, picking up her work up from the floor. "So, how much trouble are you and Alfie in for the stunt you two pulled today?" She asked him. He moved around the chair and sat down on the edge of the table in front of her.

He could see that she wasn't really paying much of her attention to him now. He then decided to fix that as he pulled her notebook and papers from her to make sure all of her attention was on him. "We've gotten worse." He told her with a shrug. "So, let me ask you something, Mina. What do you think of going . . ." He was cut off by the sound of her phone.

She picked up her bag and searched for her phone. She pulled it out and looked at the caller id. Jerome watched as she seemed to brighten up upon seeing who was calling her. "Sorry, Jerome, but I have to take this. Just ask me later, okay?" She said as she got up from the seat and answered her phone. "Hey Max. You're just who I wanted to talk to right now." She said out happily into the phone. "I'll see you at dinner Jerome. You can just ask me then." She said back to the blond boy watching her as she left the room.

Jerome stared after her with a hurt expression. He had been so close to just asking her out, but then that Max character had called her and blown his moment. He certainly was not going to ask her during supper in front of everyone. "Max is her best friend from home. They tried dating, but it didn't work. Don't worry, Jerome." He looked up to see Mara in the door way. Instead of thanking her, he just rolled his eyes and left the room. He did not need to look like a love sick fool in front of the others.


	22. Poetry Is A Way To A Girl's Heart

Sorry for the very long wait, hope there's still some readers out there to read this! Have you all seen the promo for the next season? It looked awesome! I d not own anything in this fiction, except for Mina, everyone else belongs to their rightful owners.

Chapter 22

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The next day, the Anubis kids were in their classes. They had finished their studying, so the class was about to just relax and talk. In the back of the class, were Jerome and Alfie. Jerome had his eyes set on the back of Mina's head, who was talking to Mara about something. Alfie was reclined in his seat, putting his feet up on the desk, as he followed his friend's eyes. "Lets face it, brother. We are so out of the babe race." He said out to the blond next to him.

Jerome turned to him, a slight glare in his eyes. Just because Mina was having late night calls from some bloke from America, didn't mean a thing. Besides, Mara had said that she was only friends with the kid, hadn't she? That meant that he still had a chance to win her over. "Speak for yourself." He said to his friend as he turned his attention back to the brunette that had caught his eye since day one.

Alfie then turned to give his friend a look, one that clearly read that he thought that his friend was kidding himself. "Right." He said to him as he straightened up a bit in his seat. "So, was that Mina's clone who shut you down yesterday?" He asked him. As much as he was rooting for his friend, it was getting harder for him every day. Mina wasn't an easy girl to please, but neither was his Amber, so they were basically in the same boat.

Jerome still couldn't believe his plan had backfired on him, but Alfie didn't need to remind him of the fact. Now, did he? He had managed to impress her, at the very least, though. Which, in his book? Was a step in the right direction. "Mina's mad about me." He told the boy beside him. Alfie chuckled at how serious his friend was. He really did like this girl, and Alfie was just happy to see his friend showing some emotions. "She just doesn't know it yet. Same with Amber with you, mate." He told him.

Alfie scoffed, it seemed that his chancing with Amber were even worse than Jerome's with Mina. "Okay." He said out, not believing him. "So what's your latest big idea, Casanova?" He asked him in a slight whisper. Though, their plans usually backfired on them, yesterday being a fine example of that, he did quite enjoy hearing Jerome's plans.

He turned to the boy next to him, a mischievous smirk playing on his lips as he looked at his friend. "If music be the food of love, play on." He told his friend, leaving Alfie confused on what he meant.

"We play them some music?" He asked him. Jerome's expression twisted around so it was frowning.

"No." He told him.

"Oh, I know." Alfie said out as he jumped up straight in his seat. "I know. We write them some music. A song for Amber and Mina, yeah?" He suggested to his friend. The idea was genius, it really was. He couldn't wait to sing to Amber now.

Jerome, on the other hand, wasn't going to further embarrass himself in front of Mina anymore, especially by singing to her. "You see, I was thinking a sommet. Poetry." He could definably see her falling for a poem. She seemed like the type to admit to falling for the sappiness of one, but indeed would.

"A song would beat poetry, man." Jerome couldn't help himself as he laughed. "A tune to end all tunes." Alfie said out to his best friend as he pulled a little kazoo out of his bag. "I'mma, getting the vibe already." He said he was forming a beat inside of his head. Jerome chuckled as his friend went on to play.

Mina, upon hearing the music, turned to see what the two boys were doing now. She couldn't help but giggle when she saw Alfie playing his kazoo. Jerome's eye caught hers, and he smiled as he watched her laugh. He really did like her smile, it seemed to brighten up the room just a little bit. He shook his head. Where did that mushy stuff come from?

#$^%^$%^$%^$

Mina was sitting at lunch alone. Amber was off somewhere with Nina and Fabian probably back at the house, no surprise there, and Mara was off somewhere else, most likely still trying to get Mick back as a friend. Patricia was off somewhere as well. Quite honestly, she didn't know where any of the boys were. She looked up from her sketch book and sighed. Scratch that, she knew where Jerome was.

He was heading over toward her, a cocky grin playing on his lips as he saltered over to her spot on the grass. "What a surprise. Didn't fancy meeting you here, Mina." He said out to her as he approached her. She rolled her eyes. He knew as much as anyone that this was where she sat during every lunch. It gave her a perfect angle to draw the boys play soccer, or rather, football as it was called here in the England.

She put down her sketch book on top of her book bag and looked up at him with an annoyed expression. She took a deep breath and the expression disappeared. She had learned that ignoring Jerome would do her more worse than actually talking to him would do. She folded her hands on her lap and gave him a 'get on with it' look. "Not really a surprise if you know that I always sit here, Jerome. What do you want?" She asked him.

He chuckled, and shook his head at her. He should have known that she would see right through him. She always did before now. "Well," He started as he took a seat next to her. "You see, I have this project for english. It's extra credit, so you don't have it." He cut her off before she could call him on his bluff. "Would you mind helping a mate out?" He asked her. As much as he wished that he wasn't doing this, he did actually want to impress Mina. He had wanted to write a poem for her, but when he had sat down to actually write it? He had realized that he didn't know a real thing about her.

He knew some of the small stuff, like that she loved to draw, and what her favorite food was and junk like that, but he didn't really know that much about her life before she and Nina had come to England last month, not really anyways. "Depends on what the poem is about." She told him honestly. She wasn't going to help him if he was making a joke out of the project, and he knew that.

He nodded his head slowly in understanding. He didn't really know what to say to her though. It wasn't like he could tell her that it was about her and his feelings for her, he didn't want to admit that there were even feelings there in the first place. "It's about friendship. Yeah, friendship. It can't be Alfie, because it's more of girl-guy kind of friendship that she wants. Mrs. Andrews wants me to write it like I'm writing to a friend, not like I'm writing it for a project." He explained to her to the best that he could without making it obvious that he was making this up as he went.

She gave him a curious expression, and for a moment he thought that she had seen right through him. "Well, if that's the case, Jerome, you've got to put some emotion into it. Like, put something that means something to you and your 'girl' friend." She explained to him. She had bought it. He didn't know how, since that was probably the worst lie that he had ever told before, but she had.

He let out a deep breath that he hadn't known that he was holding. "How would you write it?" He asked her. He knew that he shouldn't have. She obviously wouldn't write about him if this had been a real assignment. She most likely would write about that bloke back in America. Hadn't Mara said that they were best mates or something? He couldn't help but feel a pang of jealously upon knowing that someone else had a bigger part of her heart then him.

She bit her lip, thinking over his question. She hadn't even registered that he was hoping that she wouldn't say Max. He was the first person to come to her mind when thinking about friendships though. "I'd have to say that I'd write about Max and I. I'd write about all the times that he would come over at night when he knew I was upset and sneak in through the window. He'd stay until I'd fall a sleep. He'd let me break down and not judge me." She explained to him.

Another pang of jealously went through Jerome's body. He hadn't wanted to know that much of her and this 'Max' bloke's past. Not much at least. "I remember a night similar to that between the two of us, my dear Mina." He said to her with a cocky grin. His grin grew even more when he saw her blush. She clearly remembered the night when he had stayed with her even well after she had fallen a sleep.

She looked away from his intense stare, her blush growing even more darker by the second. His eyes never moved from her. A wave of her brown hair blocked her face from him. He reached out his hand and lifted her chin up so she was looking up at him again. He pushed back her hair back, moving it behind her ear. Her eyes widened, her body frozen where it was. He took his chance when she didn't move away from him.

He moved closer, his face inching closer to her more and more by the moment. He was just seconds away from her lips. "Hey, you two . . . oh!" Mina, having snapped out of her trance like state, jumped back from him. His head dropped with frustration as he turned to look at Alfie, who just had the worst timing it would seem. "Sorry, did I interrupt something?" He said out to them as if he didn't already know.

Jerome gave him a pointed look, about to tell him that he did in fact interrupt something very important between the two of them, but Mina had beat him to it. "Not at all, Alfie. Actually, I was just about to go." She said out to them as she hurried to grab her things and get up. She brushed herself off before heading off. "Good luck with that poem thing, Jerome. Bye Alfie!" She called out to them as she left.

Alfie and Jerome both waved back to her, though one wasn't as happy as the other next to him. He had been so close to kissing her, just like the night of the party, only he had been closer this time. Alfie had, just like the last time, interrupted the moment though and ruined everything for him. He just hoped it didn't get as awkward as it did last time they almost kissed. "Knew you would go through with the poem thing." He taunted his friend.

#$#$

It was Mina's turn to do the dishes for Trudy after dinner. Nina had helped her by bringing them all into the kitchen before going upstairs to shower real quick before everyone went to take their own showers. On her hip was her ipod, her ear plugs stuck in her ears. She was humming to the beat to her music, her hips swaying to the rhythm. She scrubbed away at the dish, her hips dipping to the side with every move.

She was completely unaware of her surroundings as she twirled around the kitchen, her eyes now closed. Jerome was standing in the doorway just watching her. An amused grin played on his lips as he held himself back from laughing at how silly she was being right now. He saw that she moving toward him unknowingly. He took a step closer to her, and then another one. He was only a foot or two away from her when she suddenly stumbled into his arms. "Careful there, love. Don't need you breaking another foot now, do we?" He chuckled out to her.

Her eyes snapped open at the sound of his voice. How long had he been standing there? Did he see her dancing around like a fool? Of course he did. It was Jerome, he saw everything that no one wanted to be seen. "Dishes can wait. I want to show you something." He told her. Before she could say anything to him though, he motioned for her to be quiet and tugged on her arm. "Come on. You'll want to see this." He whispered to her before he dragged her back out to the living room to find Alfie and Amber already inside.

Alfie was doing a beat for a rap as the sneaked inside of the room and took a seat on the couch behind their friend. "What up? What up? Owe it to Amber y'all. Amber, if I was a gambler, I'd put my money on you. Cause you care about stuff that matters like making yourself look good." He started to rap. He gave her wink, which caused her to flinch back in slight disgust. What was he doing? "Amber, I always scramble, to sit with you and . . ." He continued on for about five more seconds before Amber stopped him.

Mina was trying so hard to laugh at her friend, but it would seem that Jerome didn't have a single problem with it at all. Amber held up her hands, wishing that he would just stop already. "Okay. Thanks, Alfie." She told him. "That was totally and utterly . . ." She didn't know what to say to describe it. " . . . horrible." She finished, instantly crushing Alfie's excitement. "Sweet, but seriously, don't quit your day job." She said up to him.

Mina slapped Jerome's chest, silently telling him to stop laughing. Before she could hit him again, Jeremy grabbed her hand in his and pulled her closer. She squeak out as he attacked her sides, causing her to shriek out in laughter. Amber and Alfie shared a knowing look, but both remained silent. The laughter was gone the second Nina came into the room. "Victor's on the war path guys, and it is not pretty." She warned them all. She gave her cousin and room mate a curious look, but said nothing about it.

Jeremy was instantly up on his feet, with Mina in tow, and walking out of the room with quick good byes to the others. Mina gave little protest, but that might have just been because Victor scared her majorly. Alfie followed behind them as they left the room together. As they were leaving, Fabian had come down to talk to the girls. As much as Mina wanted to listen in on what they were talking about, the wrath of Victor wasn't worth it.

Just they got to Mina's room, Alfie kept going, but Jerome had stopped at her door with her. He seemed to fidget with something in his pocket as he shifted from one foot to the other. "It's nine o'clock. Five more minutes, and then I want to hear a pin . . . drop." They heard Victor say out from somewhere upstairs. Jerome suddenly pulled her inside of her room and quickly moved her over to her bed.

He sat her down and patted her head before he moved back in front of her. She stared up at him confused. "Okay, so this has taken me all day, and you better not think it's horrible." He told her. For a moment, she thought he was going to rap to her too, which horrified her on a whole new level. "I'm not going to rap like Alfie did, I swear. Just listen." He told her as he pulled out a crumbled piece of paper from his pocket. He uncrumbled it and cleared his throat.

_Roses are red,_

_And violates are blue,_

_But none even compare to you._

_You smell like mangos with a twist of something else,_

_You're the funniest bird I know, and you know how to laugh._

_You're creative, and you're smart._

_You think of me as a tart,_

_But you make me think of myself as a lucky mate._

_What would you say to going on a . . ._

"Clarke, if your own room!" Victor shouted out from on the other side of the door.

He had cut him off from saying the one thing that he had only wanted to ask her, and now the moment was over. She looked up at him a nervous expression. Surely she knew what he was about to ask her? "That was really something, Jerome, but it's time for you to go. I'll see you in the morning." She told him as she basically pushed him out of her room and shut the door in his face.

She leaned against the other side and took a deep breath. Was Jerome about to actually ask her out? No way! He couldn't have been trying to so that. They were friends, and barely even that much. She took a deep breath before moving across her room and getting tucked into her bed to get to sleep. On the other side of the door, Jerome was still there. He could hear her bed making noises and knew that she was heading off to sleep. He sighed heavily before going down the hallway toward his own room to get some sleep as well.


	23. Pitchers Of The Future

Thanks for the reviews. I do not own anything in this story, except for Mina, everything else belongs to their rightful owners. I can't wait for season 2! I can't wait to start thinking up new ideas for Mina and Jerome, and here's hope the new season kicks my muse in gear and gets writing lol

Chapter 23

#$%$$$$$#%$#$!

The next morning, only half of the Anubis house hold were sitting at the table while they ate their breakfast peacefully. Nina, Mara, Fabian, and Patrica were all missing from the table, while the others were present. No doubt Nina and Fabian were alone somewhere, most likely either discussing their little secret, or making out, Mina's guess was on both of the choices.

Mina was talking to Mick, Amber and Alfie. Jeremy was listening in, adding in his two cents every few seconds. Amber couldn't help but notice how Mina would spare their tall blond friend shy glances as she talked to Mick and Alfie. He was sharing similar glances with her as well. She was still curious to know what he had been about to ask her last night before Victor caught him in her room after lights out.

They were all caught up in their conversations, that they didn't hear Patricia come into the room. She stormed right up to the table, standing beside Amber who sat at the head of the table. Before any of them realized had what was happening, she had picked up the pitcher of water and dumped it on Amber's head. "I asked you to keep a secret." Patrica snapped at the blond.

Nina and Fabian ran in from another room, having heard their friend's scream. Mina covered her mouth in shock. Amber looked ready to cry. "She's known me since I was elevan, but now she's siding with someone who's only been here two minutes." She said out angrily to the rest of the room. Mina's eyes narrowed on her, as did her cousin's, as she grabbed a few napkins and got up from her seat to help Amber dry off a little.

"Patricia! What's going on?"

Mara had come into the room to find Amber soaking wet and Patricia angry about something and holding the pitcher in her hand. "Betrayal, that's what." She said out to her other friend a bit hurt as she glared at everyone around the table. Nina, nor anyone else for that matter, knew what to say to her. What could they say?

Amber had felt like just crying right then and there. She hadn't done anything wrong for once! She had done the right thing, hadn't she? It was true Patricia was her friend first, but so was Nina now, and it wasn't right for her to go snooping in her things like she had done. Right? "Don't go through peoples private things. It's like an unwritten rule." Amber told her.

"I think that it's actually a written rule." Nina popped in saying her too cents on the topic. Mina shot her cousin a sharp look, silently telling her that she wasn't helping anyone by pointing that out righht now. Patricia turned her glare from Nina and Fabian to Amber and Mina. Anyone who knew her well enough could see that Patricia was hurt on some level.

Without warning, she splashed the remaining water at Amber, again, and on Mina too since she was right next to her. The rest of the room gasped out in surprise, Amber and Mina both gasping out from the coldness of the water hitting them. "Some friend you are." She snarled out before storming out of the room. Once they heard the sound of a door slam, they all flinched briefly. Before Mina could speak, Nina had already helped Amber up and taken her back to their room to freshen up.

She jumped slightly as she felt something land on her shoulders. She looked down to see that it was one of the school jackets. She slowly looked up confused to find that the jacket belonged to none other than Jerome Clarke. "Don't want you showing off anything, now do we?" He told her nervously, his eyes never staying on her for more than a second. "Come on, lets go you into something dry before classes." He told her as he helped her up from the floor and led her out of the room. She stayed silent until they got to her room, from there he was not to follow as she made him stay outside while she changed her clothes.

#%$#$

They were all in Mrs. Andrew's class working hard when Patricia came into the room late and flustered. Mina and Mara shared a curious look before looking at the girl puzzled. Mina glanced back at Jerome and Alfie with a questioning look, but they both just shrugged their shoulders, telling her that neither of them had a clue as to why, or were a part of the reason, Patricia was later. "Ah, the late Miss Williamson. How nice of you to grace us with your presence." The teacher mocked her as she came into the room.

Patricia came into the room as if she had better things to care about and took the free seat next to Mara. "Sorry, Mrs. Andrews." She said out as she got herself settled in her seat. Before anything else, her phone had gone off. She tried to play it off as nothing, but Mrs. Andrews knew better. "Ah, yes, I am getting mightily fed up with this. Yesterday was Mr. Rutter and his music player, today Miss Williamson. You know the school rules. No mobile phones, and no MP3s. Miss Williamson, hand it over." Mrs. Andrews explained to them all as she extended her hand toward the teenaged girl beside her.

Mina watched curiously as Patricia seemed to be almost nervous at the idea of handing her phone over to the teacher. She had to wonder why though. What was on her phone to make her so nervous, or maybe it was who was on her phone to make her so nervous? "Uh, it's okay. I'll switch it off and put it in my bag." Patricia tried to make a deal with her.

It was a no go though. Patricia would not be winning this one. Good, Mina thought to herself, she deserved it after how she treated Amber this morning at breakfast with the water. It wasn't much, but not having a phone could really annoy some people who depended on their phones. "No, that's what you should have done, and now you can give it to me." She told her, her decision not going to be persuaded to change anytime soon on this matter. After a long moment, she finally handed it over. "Okay everyone, you all know what to do." She said out as she continued on with her class.

!#$#$

Mina was sitting on the grass alone with her sketch book. She heard her music blasting in her ears as she was zoned out into her own world. Her head was bobbing to the side as she hummed along to the tune of the song that she was listening to at the moment. Her eyes were closed shut as she let the pencil guide itself across the paper. She loved seeing what she could come up with when she wasn't looking. Sure, it might not be the neatest thing to do, but it was still fun.

Amber was walking back to the house alone. Nina and Fabian had wanted to be alone for a while after their visit to see Sarah, which hadn't gone as planned since someone else had been there first. She spotted Mina by herself and thought enough to go visit her. She was surprised the that other girl didn't notice her as she came up behind her to look over her shoulder. "Why are you drawing you and Jeremy together?" She asked out to her, causing Mina to yelp as she jumped a mile out of her skin.

She twisted her head around to look up at Amber with a look that said that she was confused on why the girl was suddenly there and where she had come from. "Amber, what are you doing? Where did you come from?" She asked the girl as she hurried to pack up her things. She paused briefly as she got to the sketch book. It _was_ of her and Jerome. It was a close up like a picture of them just laughing. Well, she was laughing, and he was looking at her with that goofy smile of his.

She shook her head and hurried to put the book away. She didn't know why she had drawn that. It clearly never happened, and it would never _be_ happening. So, she had no idea why she would even imagine drawing them laughing together and him looking at her with that look. "Well, Nina, Fabian, and I went to the old people's home for lunch, but your cousin and Fabian wanted some 'alone time', if you know what I mean." She said to her with a wink that only made Mina giggle more. "Now, will you tell why you were drawing Jerome and yourself? Do you fancy him, Mina? I always knew you would sooner or later. I mean, it was like, written in the stars, fated to happen, you know? I mean, I might not know a lot of things, but I know relationships, and you and Jerome, as scary as it is, have _amazing_ chemistry." Amber went on to say to her.

Mina froze as she got to her feet. Her and Jerome had no such thing, they just couldn't have chemistry like Amber was telling her they did. It just wasn't possible, they were completely different people. "There's no such thing as 'written in the stars', Amber. I'm barely seventeen, I don't believe in love, not yet at least, and I'm sure that Jerome would say the same thing if you said that to him. Look, I'll see you later at dinner, Amber. Bye." She gave her a quick wave before she rushed off away from Amber.

Mina was beyond flustered and caught off guard as she scrambled away. Her books were barely in her arms. She was struggling to walk fast toward the house and keep her books and papers in her arms. She glanced back to see if Amber was following her toward the house, it was where she had said that she had been going. A small scream left her lips as she felt herself trip and fall forward. "Whoa!" She gasped out as she turned back forward.

Her books went flying to the ground as someone caught her in their arms. She looked up to see a familiar pair of icy blue eyes looking back down at her with a concerned expression playing in them as they searched her own brown eyes. Her jaw fell slightly as a blush rose up to her cheeks. "Jerome," She breathed out as they stayed like they were.

His concerned expression curled into a grin that was a familiar expression on his face as he saw her blush. He helped her up slightly, still managing to keep her in his arms somehow. He was honestly surprised that she hadn't jumped away from him yet, which was something she usually did when something like this situation occurred between them. "Why, hello there, love. Fancy meeting you like this." He chuckled out as he took a risk and brushed back a stand of her soft brown hair.

She blushed even more at the contact as she looked away from him. It then occurred to her that her things were still on the ground. "Uh, um, thanks for the catch. I should be going. I've got science in a few minutes and I wanted to grab an apple from the house before class." She told him as she moved away from him to get her things back from the grass, which thankfully wasn't wet.

He crouched down to help her out. They reached out for the sketch book at the same time, their hand touching accidentally. A shock when through both of their fingers as their skin touched. Mina squeaked as she dropped the papers she had managed to pick up already. Jerome gave her a curious look as she blushed and stuttered out nonsense to him. He reached out for the sketch book again as he watched her carefully.

He slowly let his eyes shift down to the book in his hands, a smirk appearing on his face when he actually saw it. "Well, isn't this a pretty picture." He said out tauntingly to her. He looked up to see that she was beat red in the face from her embarrassment of him seeing her sketch of them. She quickly took it from him and took off in the opposite direction toward the school. An apple was so not worth staying around Jerome.

#$#$

That night, the dinner table was silent as they all ate their food in complete silence, even Jerome and Alfie were silent as they ate their food. Mina had the worse lunch ever as she was stuck sitting across from Jerome, who would occasionally kick her foot playfully with his own. She would, in turn, shoot him an accusing look, one that he would just chuckle at.

Patricia watched them all with a little hurt and sickness. Just watching Mina and Jerome made her a bit sick. They were so blind to what they were doing. At least her cousin had the guts to actually be with Fabian, where as Mina was Jerome were beading around the bush every other second. "Pass the juice please, Mara." She said out, a bit annoyed with the cold shoulder she was getting now.

Mara glanced up briefly, giving Patricia a cold look, before looking back down at her hardly touched food. She said nothing, which only annoyed Patricia even more. She slammed her cup down and got up to get the juice herself. She shot Mara a look as she got the pitcher of juice and went to go sit back down. "Well, aren't we quiet tonight." Trudy said out, hoping to break the tension even the slightest of bits.

Patricia shot them all an annoyed look. The majority of the table kept their head down, not wanting to get in the middle of it. "No kidding." She said out as she poured her juice. "So, what's with the silent treatment?" She said out to the table after a minute, as if she didn't know. Were they all really still mad over what had happened this morning?

The table stayed quiet though, none wanting to start anything again. Mina glanced up and caught Jerome looking up at her as well. Neither wanted to be the one to tell Patricia how it was. "What you did to Amber was terrible." Nina was the one to speak up finally. Mina looked at her cousin like she was crazy. Yes, it was awesome that she was sticking up for her friend, but Patricia already had it out for her!

The table stayed deadly silent as Patricia gave Nina an annoyed look before turning her attention to the girl on the other end of the table. Mina suddenly felt bad for Mara, Patricia kept putting her on the spot. "And what do you think, Mara?" She asked out to her. Mina's eyes shifted curiously from one end of the table to the other to see what Mara would say to her.

Jerome's eyes glanced in Mara's direction, but his attention had stayed mostly back on Mina. He wondered if she could smell his cologne from here? Would that mean it was too strong, and would that gross her out? It was the same cologne that he knew she had liked, or at least approved of on him. He was hoping to get her alone after dinner and try, once again, to romancise her. ". . . Okay, you're probably right." He was brought out of his thoughts upon hearing Patricia admit she was wrong.

"Whoa,"

Jerome felt his jaw drop as he heard Mina choking slightly on her juice she had just taken a sip of when Patricia had said what she did. "I'm sorry, Amber." She told her as nicely, and fakely, as she could. No one on their side of the table seemed to buy it, not even Mina or Amber. Especially not Nina and Fabian. Nina was patting her cousin's back as she coughed slightly, both girls looking at the red head with suspicious eyes.

"Falls off chair in amazement."

They all jump, some chuckling, as Alfie fell off of his chair slowly. Mina gave him a brief worried look, but he was back in his chair in no time, and he was perfectly fine, not even a bruise. "Did Patricia 'I'm never wrong' Williamson, just apologize?" Jerome said to her in mock amazement. Mina shot him a look, but when he glanced over at her in the corner of his eye, he knew that she was fighting back a smile.

Patricia was still herself though. She was not going to take anything from Jerome Clarke, or his best friend. "Shut up, slime ball." She told him before she took a sniff of the air, grimacing when she smelled his cologne. She glanced over at Mina, only to roll her eyes when she figured out that he was just trying to show off for her. "Oh, and nice cologne. O' De Capee?" She shot back at him.

Mina took a sniff of the air and could just barely smell Jerome's cologne. A blush rose up when she recognized the scent. "Well, I think that he smells nice, Patricia. So bad the heck off." Mina said out before she knew what she was saying. She hadn't meant to say it out loud, but she had in the end. Jerome gave her a surprised look, as if he thought she would have laughed at him and not come to his defense like she had.

Patricia just shot her a nasty look. She did not need to hear any comments from her at the moment, especially when said comment is defending Jerome. "You would, wouldn't you, Mina? Look, Jerome, you have your knight in tiny armor." She shot to the American girl with a snide look. Mina was about to get up and see how she liked having a pitcher of orange juice dumped on her head, but Nina's grip on her arm was making it harder to do, not to mention Jerome's feet keeping her own trapped in between his. "And, Nina, I'm sorry about going through your stuff. I am. The thing is, I did have a reason, and if you're interested, I'll tell you about it. Not now, _obviously_, but in private sometime?" She almost sounded not fake.

Almost.

Mina finally gave up on her attempt to get up and wiggled out of Jerome and Nina's grips on her. She crossed her arms and sat back in her seat unhappily. "Yeah, sure, that sounds like a good idea. You, and her, no witnesses. That should end well." She muttered sarcastically under her breath. She knew that the others had heard her, but she didn't really care. Jerome was grinning, or at least trying not to. While Patricia was glaring at her and Nina was giving her a sharp look.

She knew that Nina just wanted to put everything behind them. She didn't want to fight with Patricia anymore. She just wanted them to put everything past them and try to be at least civil toward the other. "Seriously, though. I'd like to talk. It doesn't matter if we have witnesses or not." She told her honestly. Mina sat up straight in her seat, looking at her cousin as if she had suddenly lost her mind. Had she forgotten that Patricia had trapped her in an old attic, intent on leaving her up there for the entire night? Even Patricia seemed surprised that Nina was agreeing to talk to her in private.


	24. Half Way There

Thanks for all of the reviews! Things are starting to heat up in the Anubis House! At least soon it will! I do not own anything but Mina and any other oc appearences in this story, everything else belongs to their rightful owners.

Chapter 24!

#$#$

A few days later, the strangest thing happened in their science class. It wasn't the lesson that Mr. Sweet was teaching. No, it was a question that Amber had asked him in front of everyone. Normally, weird questions from Amber wasn't high on her really weird list of things, but the way all three Patricia, Fabian, and Nina had reaction was what had really caught her attention. It was about some eternal life juice or something, which was completely strange all on it's own. Even Mr. Sweet's reaction had been strange at first. He seemed like he wanted to talk about anything but that juice stuff.

Mina was sitting in one of the lounge chairs in the break room for the students at the school alone. A book was open on her lap as her eyes followed every word. Jerome walked into the room. He spotted her soon enough and moved toward her. He had just from the drama room where Fabian and Nina were having their little math weird moment. He knew that he had to go back in a couple minutes because of class, but by the looks of it? Mina had completely forgotten that they still had another class to go to.

He peared over her shoulder to see what she was reading to see that it was one of those books Amber reads off and on. From the two lines he read, it was about some guy being a werewolf and in love with a girl, but he doesn't want to hurt her. He rolled his eyes at that. What was it with wolf men and girls fancying them? He honestly didn't see the point. "You know breathing on my neck isn't a good way to try to scare someone, Jerome." She said out, her eyes never leaving her book.

He chuckled as he straightened up and moved in front of her. Without a word, he grabbed her book and dropped it to the side. He grabbed onto her hand and pulled her up from the seat. The two momentarily got lost as she bumped into his chest, but soon he cleared his throat awkwardly. "We've got class. Come along, little Mina." He told her as he pulled her away and back toward the drama room.

They soon seated the second they got into the class. Before Mina could go and sit next to one of her other friends, she was pulled back from Jerome and put into the seat beside himself. "I want to ask you something at lunch. I've been meaning to ask you for a while now, but I always get inter . . ." He started to whisper to her, but once again, he was interrupted.

Neither of the two had noticed that the room had now gone silent around the both of them and that all eyes were now on them. "Jerome, Mina, if I may teach my class now." Mr. Winkler said out from the stage in front of the students. Jerome spared the small girl beside him one last look, who in turn gave him a quick nod of her head, before he turned and nodded his own head toward their teacher.

He was standing in front of them now. Mina glanced around with a blush dominant on her face as she saw everyone staring back at them. She let out a breath as Jerome took the attention as he, very funnily, told Mr. Winkler to go on with his teachings for the day. "Thank you, Jerome. Now, as we were discussing before you two came in late. Amber was just telling us a good, rough draft, of her idea for a play we will be doing. Amber, would you mind having a go at writing up an outline before our next session?" He went on as he turned toward Amber, Nina, and Fabian.

Mina glanced at her cousin suspiciously to see that what ever Amber had suggested for the play was not something that she should have said. That confused her even more because that would mean what ever it was had to do with Egypt and their little group secret. "Um, I think I might need some help with that." Amber told him with a nervous look. "Nina?" She said happily as she turned toward her friend. Nina said nothing but nodded her anyways. There was nothing she could do, Amber had already put her on the spot. Amber happily scooted closer to her and gave her a hug.

!$!#$

After class, Jerome wouldn't take no for an answer when he had taken her bag and told her that he was walking her back to the house. They walked in silence for a few minutes before he suddenly remembered something. "Oh, almost forgot." He blurted out as he came to halt. Mina glanced around curiously as she waited while Jerome searched through his bag. "Ah, here it is." He said out as he pulled an apple from his bag.

He rubbed it on his sweater to get the little bit of dust off of it before holding out toward her. "You never did get that apple yesterday before class." He told her happily, motioning for her to take it from him. "Come on, take it. I haven't poisoned it, if that's what you're thinking." He told her when he saw that she was hesitant to take it from him. She slowly took it from him and lifted it up to her lips. She gave him one last cautious look before taking a bit out of it.

A noise of delight was heard from her throat as she took another bite out of the delicious apple. "This is actually pretty good for an apple. Thank you, Jerome. You didn't have to do that." She told him as she swallowed the piece in her mouth. She gave the corners of her mouth a quick wipe with her jacket sleeve before smiling up at him. He just chuckled and shook his head at her.

He glanced around them and was happy to find no one they knew that would interrupt them anywhere near by them. He took a step closer to her and took her free hand from her side. She looked up at him confused and bit nervous. "I've been trying to ask you think for weeks now, but I was wondering if you'd like to go out to lunch, with me, some where off campus." He mentally high fived himself on the inside. He finally got it all out and no one interrupted him! She looked hesitant on answering him though. "Or we could eat here, if you want. We could even skip the food and just watch one of those silly films you and Nina brought with you from America. It can even be a girly one." He tried to negotiate with her.

She felt her heart skip beat after beat as she stared up at him with a shocked expression on her face. He was actually asking her out? What was she suppose to say to him? Did she want to go out with him too? Could she? Would that be right? They lived in the same house. Something could go wrong and everything could go down the drain and she'd have to go home in the end. Maybe Fabian and Nina were willing to risk it, but was she too? "Jerome, I . . ." She paused briefly as she glanced over his shoulder so she didn't have to look right into his blue eyes. "Max?" She said out loud confused as she moved a bit away from a confused Jerome. "MAX! Oh my god, it's you!" She said out excitedly before she left Jerome's side to run past him.

Jerome turned to see Mina jump into some other guy's awaiting arms. He was a biker, he could tell from the helmet beside him and the leather jacket. He watched on bitterly as he saw this Max guy spin her around, both of them laughing happily. His fists clenched tightly at his sides as they walked back over to him, her hanging off of this guy's arm as she smiled up at him. "Jerome, this is my best friend Max from back in America. Max, this is Jerome. You can thank him for the all the stains I now have in my clothes." She introduced the two men on both sides of her.

The two boys shared a look as they looked each other over as if they were sizing the other up. The three were silent for a moment before Max broke it by outstretching his hand toward Jerome. "Nice to finally put a face to the name. I do want to thank you though, for being there for Mina when I couldn't. She's a handful." He told him as they shook hands. He glanced down at his watch and saw what time it was. "We've actually gotta go. I already talked to that Trudy lady back out your house, I'm taking you somewhere off campus for dinner. If we don't leave now, we'll be late. It was nice meeting you, Jerome!" Max said in a hurry as he grabbed Mina's things and dragged her away.

#$#$

Mina came in hours later, laughing away with Max on her arm. The two had spent the afternoon just laughing and catching up. Mina froze in the doorway when she saw Fabian, Patricia, Amber, and Nina all coming up, tears in their eyes. "What's wrong you guys? What happened?" She asked out to them, all hints of laughter gone as she let go of Max's arm.

Nina wiped her eyes, turning her head to the side. She obviously wasn't going to tell her anything. It's not like she wouldn't find out in the morning anyways. Amber, on the other hand, raced over and threw her arms around Mina. "It's awful, Mina. It truly is just awful. Victor's fired Trudy, and now she has to leave!" Amber cried out into her shoulder.

Mina looked up at the others, her eyes pleading with them to tell her that Amber had misunderstood, that she was wrong. Trudy couldn't leave them, they'd all be skin and bones and living in their filth by next week. She's like a mother to them all. Knowing half of the boys in the house, the others would soon die from their sweaty stench from their workouts and just their everyday gym socks. God knows that none of them knew how to properly cook for themselves too.

She turned her head to Max, her arms staying around a crying Amber. Her friends were going to be going through a rough night. "I'll text you before you leave, but I need to be here. Trudy's like another mom to all us. Is that okay, Max?" She said over to him. He simply nodded and kissed the top of her head, whispering that he would check in later. With a final wave to both her and Nina, he left the house and was off to go back to the hotel his parents were staying at for the week. Once he was gone, she turned toward the others. "What happened? Why is Trudy leaving?" She asked out to them.

The others looked away from her, clearly not willing to share what they knew with her anytime soon. Amber even pulled away from her and moved back over to the group, not trusting herself not to say anything again. She waited another minute for one of them to break and tell her, but she could see that it was never going to happen anytime soon. "Wow, okay, I see how it is now." She said as she wiped her own eyes, clearing of them of tears. She stormed past them, her shoulders both hitting Nina and Patricia, who looked to be friends now. "Glad to see that you two are all buddy buddy now by the way. Amber I'd be careful. Nina might replace you next. Good night." She said out harshly as she started down the hall.

"Mina!" She heard her cousin call out after her.

She didn't want to listen to it though. It was clear that Nina had made new friends, and that what ever she was doing didn't include her as much as it did them. They had their little club, and she made her choice not to let her in on it. That was her problem, not her's. "I said good night!" She shouted back, giving them all a quick wave off as she continued down the hall.

She ended up going right past her room and down to the end of the hall. She didn't know why, but she ended up just storming into Jerome and Alfie's room. "I can not believe them! Nina's my cousin, mine! We share everything, secrets included. So why is this one so different? Why doesn't she trust me anymore?" She stormed into the room saying. Her chest was heavy as she took deep breathes.

Jerome looked up curiously at her. He was still a little put out from her taking off for lunch with that American friend of hers just as he finally asked her out, but that didn't mean he couldn't see that she was upset. "You mean Nina, I presume?" He said to her as he shut the book on his lap. He threw his legs over the side of his bed so he could look at her.

She huffed, throwing her arms up in a dramatic way. Of course she was talking about Nina, who else was she related to in the house? She moved across the room and plopped down on the bed beside him, taking him by surprise as she laid her head on his shoulder. Did she know what she did to him when she would do this? "Of course I mean Nina. We use to be so close back home. I mean, I get that she has her own friend here just like I do, but what ever they're hiding, she's not telling me and that just hurts. God, she even told what ever it is to Patricia before me. I just wanted to know why Trudy's leaving and they all looked at me like I had no right to know." She confessed to him.

He looked down at her in surprise. Since when was Trudy leaving? She would never leave them to face Victor and school by themselves, so why now? They had grown to love her over the years, and they had thought that the feeling went both ways with her to them. "Trudy's leaving? Why would she leave?" He asked her. She sniffled and turned to him, lifting her head up from his shoulder.

How was she suppose to tell him when no would even tell her in the first place? It wasn't like she could read their minds and just know! "All I know if that Victor fired her for some reason. They wouldn't tell me more than that. It has to do with that secret though. I just know it, or else they would have told me." She told him. She went to get up and pace around the room, he knew that, but he just pulled her right back down onto the bed.

He could see that the fact that Nina wasn't telling her something was what was bothering her more so than Trudy actually leaving. He could see that her leaving bothered her as well, just the fact that Nina was shutting her out scared her even more. "Lets not dwell on sad things, shall we? I was wondering if you thought anymore about my bringing you to . . ." He started to ask her. He was hoping that she would have at least considered it.

She panicked when she realized what he was going to ask her. "You're actually right, Jerome. Lets not dwell on sad things. Would you like to . . ." She paused, trying to find the right way to ask him. His eyes lifted in hope that she would bring it up to him about going out, a hopeful smile slowly peaking onto his lips. " . . . if you knew how to make cookies. I was thinking of making some for Trudy for when she leaves in the morning." She ended up asking him.

His smile fell upon hearing what her question actually was. He was about to tell her 'no way' when he saw the pleading look in her eyes. She needed to do something to get her mind off of everything, and she was wanting to do it with him. He realized that he still had a chance, he just had to work a little harder to break down her hesitation toward him. "That sounds like a brilliant idea, Mina. Shall we then?" He said to her as he stood up from his bed and offered her his arm.

She looked up at him with a smile that made his insides explode. She was looking at him like he had just given her the best present he could ever give her. She giggled as she took his arm and let him lead her out of the room and down to the kitchen. The two soon went to work on preparing the cookie dough. Neither were a great baker, they both knew that, so they were trying their hardest to stay focused and read the directions carefully.

It was almost a half hour later when Mina was stirring the dough with a big wooden spoon. She stopped when it was getting to hard to move the spoon. "This doesn't look right to me. You wanna taste it?" She asked him as she held up a spoonful of the dough toward him. She was hoping that he would taste it for her so she didn't have to even put it near her lips.

He glanced at the dough in her hand and grimaced. It looked a big chunkier than he knew cookie dough was suppose to be. He quickly shook his head to tasting it. That was not about to be ingested by his stomach, let alone come anywhere near him or his mouth. "Oh come on, Jerome. Just one taste. Please." She said out to him, holding the spoon out to him. He still shook his head though. She moved closer to him, in turn moving the spoon even closer to him.

He glanced back to see that the spoon was almost in touching distance of him. Upon seeing it up close, he was definably not going anyway near it. "No way, Mina. I am not touching that even if you paid me." He told her. She was about to tell him that it wasn't going to hurt him to taste it when she accidentally flung the dough. She hadn't meant to, she just talked with her hands and accidentally moved the spoon, in turn throwing the dough at him.

It had hit him square in the face. She gasped out in shock of what she had done. He, in turn, walked closer to her as he wiped the dough from his eye. Just to please her, he stuck a bit into his mouth and grimaced at the taste. "This taste bloody awful, but maybe we should have a second opinion. Don't you think, love?" He said as he reached out toward her.

She tried to warn him off, but she was cut off as he picked up a chunk of the cookie dough and slapped it to her chest. She gasped as she dropped the bowl to the floor in surprise, causing him to laugh out. "Oh, it is so on." She said as she wiped the dough off of her chest. She hurried to the sink and grabbed the hose. Before he could move, she sprayed him with it.

The others had come down from their rooms to see what was going on in the kitchen, even Trudy managed to come down to see. They all stood silently from the dining room, watching on as Jerome and Mina hit each other with various foods and liquids from the kitchen. They all tried to hold back their laughter, but it became too much when Jerome grabbed Mina around the waist and pulled her to him, grabbing onto the box of cereal that she was about to hit him with.

They watched on with anticipation as the world, at least for Jerome and Mina, had stopped as they stared at each other. The suspension was killing the others. They all knew that the two liked each other, and now was Jerome's moment to finally make his move. "Just kiss her already, dude!" Alfie shouted out, completely ruining the moment for the two in question.

The others groaned as they slapped Alfie's arms in annoyance. Jerome and Mina were instantly four feet apart, not daring to look at the other as they both blushed like mad people. "I'll, uh, see you all in the morning. I've got to shower and get this gunk off before he stains my clothes." Mina said in a hurried before she raced out of the room and upstairs to take a quick shower. Jerome stared after her with a hurt expression, only it quickly turned to annoyance as he turned to look at the on-lookers.

He had been so close to kissing her! He was finally going to take that step and kiss her, and he knew that she was going to kiss him back as well. "Shows over all. Back to your non-existent lives. Good night." He huffed before waving them all off and leaving the room. They all shook their head with laughter before going back to their rooms for the night. Trudy just laughed as she started to clean up the left behind mess. At least her last hours with the children had been enjoyable.


	25. Bitter Sweet GoodByes

Thanks for all the reviews! I can't wait to get to the second season! I do not own anything other than Mina and Max, everything else belongs to their rightful owners. If you haven't seen them already, I've got some CKTC videos up on Youtube for Jerome and Mina! There's more to come as well!

Chapter 25

#$#$!#$#$

Mina was laying in her bed, her eyes red and puffy from her crying. When she had gotten back to her room, she just couldn't stop crying. Trudy was the one adult that she actually trusted at this school, and now she was gone because of something Nina and her friends had done. On some level, she couldn't help blame Nina and her group of friends. She wanted to blame this all on them and their stupid secret that they had going on between the four of them.

She knew that Trudy would be leaving soon, but she couldn't bring herself to actually get up for the day. Jerome was going to say his good bye to Trudy when he saw the group already down there. His expression turned confused as he didn't see Mina among them. He knew that she would want to say good bye to Trudy, so where was she? He went in search of her and found her still in bed. "What are you still doing in bed, Mina? Trudy's leaving any minute now." He told her as he came more into the room.

She sat up on a second's notice, her eyes wide with fear. He couldn't be serious, could he? Why would she leave before any of them even had breakfast? "What? No way, she can't be leaving now." She said out to him as she slipped on a sweatshirt to cover up her tank top and keep the chill away. She just shook her head at him. He had to be mistaken or something. He just had to be.

He moved across the room toward her. He pulled her up to her feet, catching her when she fell from being tangled in the sheets, and pulled her toward the bedroom door. He knew how important saying good bye to Trudy would be to her. Not to say it wasn't important to him too, but he knew that she would never forgive herself if she didn't get to say good bye to her. "Come on. We don't want to miss her." He told her as he through the door opened and dragged her outside of the room.

Jerome froze when he saw Victor telling Trudy that her cab was here to take her back to her home. "No," He gasped out as he squeazed Mina's hand and dragged her along as he sped up. It was too late though, but the time they had reached the group, Trudy had already walked outside of the door. "Trudy!" Mina called out, praying that the woman had heard her.

They waited for a moment, all holding their breath as they waited to see if Trudy had heard the girl or not. The seconds went by and her hope was dying little by little. Just as she thought that Trudy had left without her good bye, the door opened and the old woman poked her head inside. "I almost forgot you two. Sorry, Victor, but I'll be quick." She said she moved over to stand in front of Jerome and Mina. She placed her hand on Jerome's cheek and smiled motherly up at the boy before she moved onto the girl behind him.

Mina let out a sob as they looked at each other. She had thought that she had missed her chance to say good bye. "Oh, sweetie. Come here." She welcome the crying girl into her arms and let her cry briefly before Amber and Mara joined in as well. From the honk outside, she knew that it was time to go. She pulled back from the girls and wiped her eyes. "Time to leave. You all be good." She told them, blowing them a quick kiss as she left the house again.

Mara wrapped her arms around Mina and let her cry on her shoulder. Victor soon dismissed them all, sending them back to their rooms to get ready for the day since classes would be starting soon. Jerome placed a hand on Mara's shoulder, silently telling her that he could handle Mina from there. He had already gotten dressed for the day, he could give her a hand in anything she needed. She nodded and slowly let go of the girl and followed Patricia up to their room.

Jerome then wrapped an arm around Mina's shoulders and directed them back to her room. He walked her to her room, stopping when they got to the door. She glanced down at the door. She could invite him inside, but she knew that if she did that something she wasn't ready for would happen. "I should go get dressed. Thanks for, um, making sure I got to say good bye. It means a lot to me." She said as she looked back up at him with a weak smile.

The smile is returned no doubt as he shifted from one foot to the other awkwardly as he slides his hands into his pockets. "No big deal, love." He told her. "So, I don't suppose you'll be letting me in then." He said to her when he noticed her hesitating with opening the door. She gave another weak smile as she shook her head no. He nodded and shrugged his shoulders. "I'll see you at the breakfast table then." He told with another nod of his head before leaving her to get ready on her own. She took a deep breath before going into her room and shutting the door behind her.

#$#

The teens were all sitting at the table for breakfast, a disgusted expression on their faces as they looked down at the blob of gunk Victor thought was actually considered food. Jerome and Mina shared a look as they glanced down at their globs of mush in front of them. Mina giggled as he gave her a gagging motion. They looked up at the sound of Amber gagging on her tea. "I'm not eating this." Mick said out as he looked at the mess in front of him.

Victor looked down at him with an 'oh really' expression. They were more than happy to cook for themselves. He was not their cook, nor their maid. He didn't have to do anything for a single one of them. "Trudy always gave us toast, and our choice of jam." Mara explained to them. Alfie caught both of the Martin girl's attentions as he plopped the glob in between his tea cup and plat, sticking them both together. The girls bit back a giggle as they watching him.

Jerome shot a sharp look over to his friend. Mina had been paying attention to him, finally, and now Alfie had taken it away. "Forget Trudy." Victor said out as he saw that they had gotten some amusement over his cooking as they played with it like it was play dough or something. "And if you don't like my cooking, you can always do it yourself." He told them as he returned to the kitchen.

Fabian tried to stick his fork into the food, but it didn't even dent the surface of the . . . what ever it actually was suppose to be. Mina giggled again as she saw him try that, and found herself trying to scoop it up with her spoon. "How about we go and get some breakfast from the vending machines at school, guys?" Amber said out to them all. They all voiced their agreement and were getting up to go when Mina's spoon broke through the blob, only for it to fling across the table and hit Jerome in the face.

She gasped, covering her mouth as he wiped it off of him in disgust. He slowly looked up at her, mischief playing in his eyes as he picked up his own bowl. "You better run, Mina." He warned her as he stood up. She was up and out of the room before he had even fully gotten up. They all managed to laugh as he grabbed both of their bags and went after her. He hadn't planned of her stopping though, so he had basically only ran her over when he actually got into the hallway.

They stood there in shock as they watched the men installing the cameras around them. There had to be one in at least every room, and who knows how many were actually upstairs. It wasn't long before the others joined them in the hallway. "No way. They're installing security cameras." Amber said out. Mina glanced over at Jerome to see that he certainly was not happy about that.

And neither was she. She did not want herself caught on tape after her showers, let alone any other time of the day. She could pretty much say that it went the same way for the other teens around her. "They can't do that. It's a total invasion of our privacy." Fabian said out as he looked around him at his friends. He knew that they were all thinking the same thing as well.

"And the camera adds twenty pounds."

Mina rolled her eyes at Amber. Leave it to her to worry about that. Did she not realize how wrong this really was? Besides the fact that she might look a little less than perfect because of the stupid camera adding twenty pounds? "The school is always striving to improve your personal security. This is our latest measure to help you feel safe, and secure." Victor said out from behind them all before returning back to the other room.

They all huffed as they left for their classes. "Safe and secure?" Jerome scoffed as he and Mina walked side by side as they left the doors. She just shook her head and muttered something out. She had a guess that the cameras were more than just to keep them all 'safe and secure' as Victor said. She couldn't help but remember that Nina and Fabian had been out after hours that one night trying to find something under the steps, and the night of the party when they went up to the attic once again. She had a hunch that the cameras were more about watching that group then it was the rest of them.

#%$#$%#

Mina was walking down the hall, minding her own business perfectly fine, when she was suddenly pulled to the side and pushed against the wall as the door shut behind her and who ever had grabbed her. She looked around to see that she had been pulled into a broom closet. Her eyes finally settled on her captor. Jerome Clarke. She rolled her eyes, she should have known. "What is it, Jerome? What do you want, and why did you pull me into a broom closet?" She asked him as she she pushed him back a step.

She did not want to be too close to him, especially when they were alone and in such a tight space. "Not probably what you're thinking, love." He chuckled to her when he saw her cheeks heat up with a blush. "I was wondering, how'd you like to be my, very, beautiful assistant? I'd ask Alfie, but I thought that you'd look much better in a dress." He asked her as he gave her, her space.

She looked at him with a smile. Was he serious? Did he seriously just ask her that? Did he really just ask her to be his 'assistant'? He sighed and rolled his eyes when he saw her expression. She just laughed when he muttered something about should have had asked Alfie first. She saw that he was about to leave and tugged on his arm. "I'll do it. I will, but why the need of an assistant?" She asked him as he looked back at her with a wicked grin.

#%$#%$#

Mina and Jerome suddenly spun around on their heels to face the crowd before them both. Both were dressed in ridiculous clothing, Jerome even had a dark fake mustache on his lip. Mina was wearing a beautiful dress thanks to Amber, so was Alfie, who was in charged of standing by the point board. He was even wearing her high heels to match the dress she had given him. "Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, to Sporting Challenge." Jerome said out in his announcer voice.

"To do."

"To do." Mina piped in.

"To dee." Alfie said out in a girly voice.

"To dah." Jerome said out as he wrapped his arm around the girl beside him and held her close to his side. She shot him a look, causing some chuckles from the crowd before them.

"Sporting challenge." Alfie echoed in a high pitched voice after while Mina waved out to the crowd, her smile slightly forced, like she was a queen to the crowd. Jerome still had his arm around her waist while he held the game cards in his free hand. The crowd erupted into applause and laughter as they watched the three on stage.

The Anubis girls all laughed out when they saw Mina elbow Jerome's side. He grunted in pain, but managed to keep a smile on his face. "I would like to introduce my _beautiful_ assistant, Milly." He said out to the crowd, glancing over at the girl beside him and giving her a wink. She blushed, but fought it back as she rolled her eyes at him. "And our two lovely contestants. Mick, and Mara." He said as he motioned to both Mara and Mick on either side of the stage. He rolled his eyes when he heard a cough at the end of the stage. "Oh, yeah, and my other assistant, Fifi." He said out dully, causing Alfie's smile to fall briefly.

The crowd of students erupted with more applause and laughter as Alfie did a little spin to show off his costume, doing a mock bow when the crowd laughed louder. "The first questions, please, Milly." Jerome said down to the girl beside him. She nodded and turned on her heels to go retrieve the first round of questions. "Thank you." He said out to her, giving her a quick wink when she glanced back over her shoulder at him. She merely giggled and shook her head at him.

It wasn't long before Mina strutted back over to Jerome with the cards, giving the crowd a runway model type pose as she gave to a stop. The crowd chuckled slightly as she gave them all a fierce look as she handed the cards over to the blond besides her, who had also managed to keep a straight face. She could see the hint of a smile underneath his mustache though. He cleared his throat and turned back to the others before them. "Over which three distances, is the sprint run?" He asked both of the two teens on either side of him.

Mick looked ready to answer, but Mara had beat him to the buzzer, a proud smile on her face. "100, 200, and 400 meters." She answered him when he called on her. Mina glanced over Jerome's shoulder and her jaw dropped when she realized that she had gotten it correct, and Jerome said out loud as much. Mina felt bad when Mick was less than happy for Mara for getting an aswer correct. As the game went on, Mara was answering question after question correctly. And as Mara was getting one question after another, and Mick was getting more and more upset after said questions she was getting correct.

It felt like only an hour had gone by before things were slowly coming to an end. Mara was up twenty points while Mick was only at a mere number of five points. The members of the Anubis house could all clearly see that Mick was less than happy with the out come of the game. He had expected to win by a long shot and leave Mara behind in his dust. "And now, the final category, is football. English football, Mara, and Milly, questions please." Jerome said out to the crowd as he handed the cards back to Mina, who in turned to Alfie to retrieve the new round of cards.

Alfie nodded as he took the cards and went to go replace them with the new stack of cards. On his way back to Mina and Jerome, he tripped over the dress. "Alfie, if you stretch my shoes." Amber warned him, causing the others to laugh as he simply gave her an apologetic look before handing the cards to Mina, who in turn gave them to Jerome. "Who beat England in the semi finals of the 1990 world cup?" Jerome asked both of the players.

Not giving Mara the time to ring in her buzzer, Mick simply waved his hand up. "Oh, uh, Portugal on penalties." He said out, a smile on his face. He was going to catch up to Mara in no time know. He was sure that she didn't have a clue as to what this sport was about, let alone the important events concerning it. Mina and Alfie both winced, Alfie only doing it once he saw her do it. Apparently, she already knew the answer to the question.

Jerome and Mara both winced as well. Both knew, Jerome having seen the card and Mara just knowing, that he had been wrong. "Incorrect." He said out in surprise. He didn't expect Mick to get a question wrong. He knew that he was slow at buzzing in, but he thought that he knew his sports. He was the jock of their house after all.

The group watched as Mick's smile faded just as quickly as it had appeared. How could he have been wrong? "No. No, no. I know the right answer. I just . . . got the wrong year. That's all." He tried to explain, but Mara had figured it out and rang in before he could say anymore.

"Mara?"

"Germany." She said out happily, knowing that she was right. By Jerome proclaiming as much, she was proven right.

Mina and Alfie took a step back when they noticed that Mick was going to loose it any minute from now. He was not happy with the outcome, and to put it nicely, Mina was not pleased with him. He had expected to beat Mara, which is why he agreed to do this game with her. He had thought that she would loose, but he had been wrong by a long shot. "She's cheating! She must be cheating." Mick said out angrily. Mara was taken back by the accusation. "Did you give her the answers?" He pointed his direction to Jerome.

"No."

"Yes, you did, to make me look stupid. Well, har har, everyone. Very funny." Mick said out as he stormed off the stage and cut through the crowd watching him. Mina shook her head in disappointment while the others just stared at him in shock. No one had cheated, and they all knew that. Mick knew it too, but he was just too stubborn to admit it. The four teens on the stage shared a look before sighing, shaking their heads at their friend.

Mina looked up at the sight of someone else getting up from their seats. A sudden smile appeared on her lips, catching Jerome's attention as he too looked to see what it was. She seemed to get a wave of excitement flow through her body as she hopped off of the stage and made her way to the back of the room. Jerome watched with a bitter taste in his mouth as she jumped into Max's awaiting arms.

His teeth gritted together with anger as he watched on as she did a little twirl to show off her dress to her friend. He had picked that costume out for her, not that Max guy. Him. He had been the one to make her laugh today, not him. Alfie watched as his friend's hands clenched tightly at his sides angrily. "Who's the bloke with Mina, mate? New Competition, I suppose." He whispered over to his friend.

Jerome scoffed bitterly at that. As if this guy was any competition of his. He wasn't though, was he? Sure, the two had history from back when she was in America with him, but she was now in England and they were making their own history for the books to tell. Wasn't that what he should be thinking? Max was the boyfriend of the past, but he was determined to be her boyfriend as of present and of her future.

Mina was back over at the house with Max, who had come to the house after the game show. They were sitting in her room, away from the cameras, when her door was suddenly barged in by everyone. Jerome's eyes flickered over between the two with disgust. They were on her bed, alone, in her room. "Do you want to help get rid of the camera or not?" Nina said out to her cousin. "You can help too, Max." She said out a second.

The two shared a look before nodding and getting up from the bed. They all left the room then to go grab some chairs. As the group was leaving, Max pulled Jerome to the side. "Hey, Jerome right?" He asked him to make sure that he was talking to the right person. Jerome nodded forcefully, wishing to be anywhere but talking to this guy right now. "I just wanted to thank you for being there for Mina. Fighting with Nina is really doing a number on her, you know?" Again Jerome nodded as he grabbed his chair from the closet. He opened his mouth to say something more, but Jerome walked away before he could, clearly meaning that he didn't want to talk to him. Max stared after him confused before Mina nudged him and motioned for him to follow her up to the camera in front of the attic door. He nodded after a second and followed her up, glancing back at Jerome and Alfie once before they were soon out of sight.


	26. Testing Jerome

Sorry the lateness, the moment you guys are all waiting for is coming, not telling when don't want to ruin the moment when it does, but it's soon! I do not own anything in this story, besides Mina and Max, everything else belongs to their rightful owners.

Chapter 26

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The next few mornings were pure chaos. Everyone was trying to make their own breakfast while trying to finish getting dressed all at the same time, and it was all just plain insane. Everyone was fighting and bumping into the other. When the bacon was completely shriveled up and burnt, that was the end of it. "Stop!" Fabian shouted out to the others. "We can't go on like this. We're gonna starve." He said out to them all as he looked around the group.

They all seemed to agree with him on one thing. The Martin girls shared a look for a long moment before nodding. "We need Trudy back." Mina said out to the others around here. "And those cameras taken down." Nina said out after her cousin. It would seem that since they arrived, the two would be finally agreeing on something other than homework answers.

"We need to show them we mean business." Patricia said out to the group. Though it wouldn't be easy, Mick and Alfie were already joking around. Mina slapped their arms and motioned for them to pay attention to the red headed English girl. "And I know exactly how to do it." She told them. She looked around to see that the others had come to the same conclusion, well besides Mick, Mina, and Alfie since they had missed the look between the group.

Victor came down a few minutes later to find them all sitting at the table doing nothing, but fulling knowing that they were late to classes though. "What is going on here?" He said out as he looked around the table. While most of them were sitting boredly, some where silently playing games like thumb war, those in divisional being Jerome and Mina. They jumped when Victor came in the room, ending their game almost instantly when they heard his voice. "Get to your lessons immediately." He told them as he pointed to the doorway.

They wouldn't be doing what he said anytime soon though. They were taking a stand against his firing Trudy and his god awful cameras. The girls hated them the most, they felt so violated when getting out of the shower, especially Mina since she had to go all the way downstairs to get to the safety of her room. "Not until you've taken down the security cameras." Mina said out. "And brought Trudy back." Nina added in on their demands.

"And gotten softer toilet paper." Amber said out, confusing them all for a moment. It would figure Amber would be the one to add in her own demands. "What? As long as we're making demands." She told them as she saw all of them staring at her with an 'are you serious?' look.

Victor was beyond furious as her looked around the table. Never in his day had he seen this group of children stand up to him like this, not even the rebel-like girl Patricia. She had always backed down before it got to this point. "You dare give ultimatums to me." He said out as he looked around the table. Alfie and Mina both looked smug on the outside, but he knew that they were just as terrified as the others deep down. "I'll soon bring you all to your senses when I speak to Mr Sweet about having you all thrown out of school." He said to the very obvious leaders of this riot.

He knew that it was obvious that Nina Martin and Patricia Williamson were the ring leaders of this thing. Not only is Patricia the one giving the demands and staying strong for her fellow classmates, but Nina was always in the middle of messes like this one lately. "You don't have the power." Patricia said out to him. "Do you?" She knew little of Victor's rights over them. He couldn't have any power over them being kicked out. He might be able to give them detention, and very least suspension for a day or two, but that was about it. Suspension would only do him worse though, since they'd all be stuck in the house for how many days and would be completely bored.

Victor seemed smug at seeing fear cross Patricia's face. He was breaking one of the leaders down at least. "Oh, Miss Williamson. I have more power than you could ever imagine." He told Patricia before straightening up. "Now get to school all of you, unless you are prepared to suffer the consequences." He addressed to them all. The teens shared a nervous look.

They all looked around to see if anyone would break. They needed everyone to stay strong and hold out against Victor. A minute went by before the first of them broke from the group. It was Mick. "Thing is, it's this sport's scholarship. I need to get reference from the school." Mick said out sadly as he packed up his things to leave. He felt like the worst person, but he couldn't risk this chance. Mara was the next to leave, saying she had a class that she really wanted to go to.

Mina rolled her eyes at that, she knew that Mara was only leaving them because Mick was. She was honestly hurt when she saw Alfie get up next. "My parental units will kill me if I get, yet again, expelled from another school." He explained to them as he packed his things sparing a guilty glance at a hurt Mina beside him. She was even more hurt when Jerome stood up as well. "Yah, bad idea anyway. I'm out. Come on Mina. I'm not letting you risk your chances at staying in England." He told her as he pulled her up from her seat and grabbed her things before she could protest. He passed her stuff to Alfie and grabbed onto her arm.

She gave her cousin a sad look as Jerome dragged her out of the room. Nina gave her a surprised look as she watched her cousin. "Mina, you don't have to go with him. You can stay if you want to." She said out to her guilty cousin. Mina just shook her head at her cousin. She wanted to stay, but she knew that Jerome was right on some level. She couldn't risk being sent home. She really liked it here, and she didn't want to be kicked out. "I'm sorry, Nina. I can't." She said out as she was pulled out of the room. She cringed at the look on her cousin's face as she walked out the door.

#$#$

During lunch, Mina was tempted to go back to the house, but Jerome had joined her before she could decided on it. He had gotten her mind off of her cousin for a while with his jokes and telling her to sketch him doing a pose. That had sent her into a laughing fit. His 'pose', if you could call it that, was the funniest thing that she had ever seen before. "Come on, Mina. Draw me like this. I can have it framed if it's good enough." He said out to her as he kept his pose.

She was trying to control her laughter as she got her things out to draw him. She was finding it harder said then done though. She finally got control of her giggling as she started sketching him. She was fighting back her laughter every time she looked up though. He would shoot her a funny face when she did, in turn making her laugh again. "Would you quit that, Jerome. I can't draw you if you keep changing faces on me." She tried to scold him without laughing.

"Mina!"

She looked past Jerome to see Max coming over to them. She had completely forgotten that she had texted him what had happened and how guilty she had felt for leaving Nina behind. She dropped her things and got up, brushing herself off as Max approached them both. Jerome rolled his eyes and groaned when he saw who it was that had, once again, ruined their moment. "Hey, you didn't have to come all the way down here. You're gonna get in trouble coming during school hours one of these times, Max." She laughed out to him as he pulled her into a hug.

Jerome gritted his teeth at the sight of him touching Mina. He watched on bitterly for a moment, letting them talk a bit about Nina and what had gone down this morning with the others and Victor. He wasn't going to regret pulling her along with him back to the school. He knew that she would have stayed only for her cousin and her loyalty to her, but if that loyalty got her kicked out and sent back to the states? He would never forgive Patricia and Fabian for it, and especially not Nina since it would have been all her fault.

His head lifted up at the sound of his name being called. He would have liked to hope that Mina was telling this kid that they were in the middle of something and to leave them alone, but his hope was squashed as he saw that it was Max calling him over to them. He gritted his teeth and nodded as she walked over to him. He looked around to see that Mina had disappeared. "She went to go get something from the canine." He told him when he saw his confusion. "Look, I know that I've said this every time that we've seen each other, but I've got to thank you. I would love if Mina came back to the states, but I know that she's happy here. She's made a lot of friends and that's new to her." Max explained to him.

Jerome didn't know what to say to him. He knew how shy Mina had been when she had first gotten to the house. She had warmed up to them, to him, though after a while. "You don't like me, do you, Jerome?" Max said out to him after a minute of watching him think over something. He wasn't stupid, he could see that the blond British boy didn't like him. He especially didn't like him when he was with Mina. "But you like her, don't you?" He came to realize.

Jerome looked up at him with a shocked expression. He's been with Mina for months now, and she hadn't even hinted at knowing his feelings for her, but this kid was here for almost a week and he knew it. "Look, if you so much as hint to Mina that I . . ." He started to say to him, but Max held up his hand, motioning for him to hold on a moment.

He loved Mina, but not how Jerome thought he did. They had tried the whole dating thing before, and it had almost broken them completely. He was lucky to still be in her life today. "I won't say anything to her, I swear. I'll leave that to you, and I won't stand in your way." He told him. "Just a fair warning though, she might seem strong at times, but she's not. She's easily breakable and harder to put back together. I almost lost her when we broke things off for the last time." He explained to him, causing Jerome to narrow his eyes on him.

He might be Mina best friend, but he obviously didn't know her as much as he would like to think he did. Maybe Mina had been breakable and fragile when she was back in the states with him. Maybe he didn't give her a chance to be stronger on his own, like they all did here. Sure, she had her moments when she wasn't as strong as she could have been, but that was what made her human and just plain Mina. It was her flaws that made her, her. That was what he liked about her. She wasn't afraid to spill her feelings to someone she trusted, and she wasn't scared to fight for what she believed in.

Jerome took a step closer to him, his jaw set tight as his fist clenched at his sides. He was just itching to hit this guy. How dare he talk about her like she was some weak fragile doll. "Mina's a lot stronger then you give her credit for, mate. She's not just strong, but she's funny and she's bloody beautiful. You're just a twit that lost his chance, and I'm beyond bloody happy for that." Jerome said to him, his tone low and threatening to the other boy.

Max had to admit her was impressed. He had thought that Jerome would have taken off the second he saw that Mina had left them alone. "I think that I was wrong about you, Jerome." Jerome looked down at the shorter boy in confusion. "I'm her best friend, I look out for her when I know she won't. She's Mina, you know how oblivious she is to the obvious, like you caring for her a lot more than she knows you do. I have to say though, you're the first to put me in my place." Max laughed to him.

Jerome was even more confused now though. What the blood hell was he talking about? "I like to kind of test the guys who like her. It's what a friend does, Jerome. I love her, I just wanna make sure the guy who says that they do too really means it enough to get past making out with her. She's been hurt a lot, most recently by me more than I'd like to admit. Like I said though, I'm not gonna get in your way. Just don't hurt her, cause then I will." He warned him before they heard Mina coming back over to them.

She was completely and utterly unaware of what had just occurred between the two boys just now. "I've got to get back, Minnie. Our flights tomorrow, and mom wanted to fit in one more day of sight seeing before we take off." He explained to the girl beside him as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders and gave her a small squeeze of comfort. "And don't worry about the Nina thing, I'm sure that you two will make up in no time. I'll talk to you tonight." He told her before giving her a quick kiss on the head and going to leave to get back to his mom, who was waiting for him at the school's entrance. He turned as he walked and looked back over to the two. "Oh, and watch over my girl, Jerome! I'm trusting you!" He said out back to the blond boy as he waved before taking off in a jog.

Mina wiped her eyes quickly. She hated knowing that Max was leaving tomorrow. She had gotten use to his daily visits to the school this past week. She really did miss her best friend while she was here, and now she was going to miss him even more with him leaving again. Jerome looked down at her saw her wiping her eyes and sniffling slightly. He sighed as he packed up her things quickly before straightening up on his feet and wrapping his arm around her.

She turned to him and rested her head against his chest, letting him hold her for a moment while she controlled her emotions and calmed down. After a minute, she pulled away from his embrace and looked up at him with a brilliant smile and sparkling eyes, the look he had fallen for since the first time he had seen it. "Thanks, Jerome. I don't think that I've ever said that to you before. You've me with a lot. You're the best friend a girl could have." She told him before taking her things from him and leaving to go back to class.

He stared after her with a horror filled look. She had said 'friend'. He was the best 'friend' a girl could have! That had to be the worst word for a boy to hear from a girl he fancied. He didn't want to be just the 'best friend', he wanted to be a lot more than that to her. He didn't want to be stuck in the friend zone with her for the rest of their lives, or at least their schooling years at this school. "Come on, Jerome! Get moving before someone takes our seats!" She called back to him when she saw that he hadn't been behind her. He seemed to snap out of it and caught up to her. He looked down at her and decided then and there, that he would get out of the friend zone one way or another.


	27. Even Zombies Can Be Hurt

Thanks for the reviews! I do not own anything in this chapter, besides Mina, everything else belongs to their rightful owners

Chapter 27

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Alfie, Mina, and Jerome were on their way to classes the next morning when they saw Victor and a few other men taking down one of the cameras that was put up in the main hallway. "So, Victor, back to good old room searches and peering through key holes, eh?" Jerome said out to the old man as they came walking down the hallway together. Mina giggled softly beside him as the boy teased Victor on their and the others victory.

The three teens appeared on either side of him as they saw that he was trying his best not to be taunted by them. He would not let it show that merely child got a reaction out of him. "Don't you have classes to go to?" Jerome threw his head back and laughed out upon hearing him. Mina nudged him to go and pulled Alfie along behind them as they left to go to their first classes. "Victor, have a nice day." Alfie said out to him as he stopped at the door briefly before going on after Mina and Jerome.

Alfie had fallen a bit behind them, and he would have caught up with them if not for what he saw when he got outside. Jerome and Mina were bumping shoulders playfully as they talked to each other in hushed tones, laughing about what ever they were talking about. Alfie knew that it was only a matter of time before those two got together. He knew that his friend was trying to woo the Martin girl, but he just needed a bit of help. Jerome was helping him with Amber, it was the least he could do for his friend.

The other three girls had joined him in watching the two ahead of them. A secret smile on their faces as they watched them, all except for Nina, who was still upset with cousin for letting Jerome tell her what to do. She might be over with the others leaving yesterday, especially since they had gotten what they wanted in the end of the day, but that hurt. Mina had always stuck by her side when they were trying to do something important. Not even Max could pull her away, but Jerome had, and she had let him.

Alfie saw Nina's bitter expression towards her cousin and sighed out loud. It looked like things between the two cousins were only getting worse. He wished that what ever it was that was causing them to fight would magically disappear. Mina needed her cousin, and he was pretty sure that Nina needed her too. He returned his sights on Jerome and Mina to see his friend taking her bag from her and slipping it over his shoulder. He rolled his eyes at the two, it was as if they were already an item.

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Jerome was ecstatic over what he had just overheard. He had a brilliant plan to prank those four who were the reason for the bloody cameras and Trudy being fired. He didn't know what they had done, but he knew that it was their fault. It always has been since the Martin girls arrived. Actually, no. It all started when Patricia locked Nina in the attic that night. Now it was time for pay back on them. He spotted Alfie and Mina sitting together in one of the chairs while they waited for drama class to start. "Yes. Yes, oh, yes." He said out as he moved around them and sat down.

The two shared a look before looking back at their friend with a curious expression on their faces. "What is it, Jerome?" Alfie asked out to him. Jerome glanced at Mina and motioned for her to leave. He didn't want her involved with this. Not that he didn't trust her or something like that, but the plan he had in mind was a bit of a tight fit for two people, let alone three. It didn't matter that she was tiny, it would be too much of a tight fit.

She seemed to catch onto what he wanted her to do, as well did Alfie, who was now giving her the same look. His was a bit more ruder about it though. She threw her hands up in frustration, giving in to their need for her to leave. "Fine, do your little pranking thing. Don't come crying to me when who ever it is that you're about to prank some how knows about it beforehand." She said out to them with a shrug as she got up and was about to find another seat.

Jerome and Alfie shared a quick look before the blond groaned and grabbed onto her wrist, pulling her back down beside him. She laughed out in victory as she ended up being involved. She gave Jerome a smug look before finding her own seat on the edge of Jerome's seat. Once she was settled, he returned his attention back to the matter at hand. "We, meaning all three of us, have been just offered the opportunity of the best prank of the year." Jerome told them as he leaned in closer to the two. The three teens continued to whisper as the others filed into the class room.

Nina was less then pleased to see Mina laughing and whispering with Jerome as she, Fabian, and Amber passed by them and took their own seats across from them. Her expression stayed locked on the three of them until the bell rang and Mr. Winkler came inside of the room. "Good morning, everyone!" He said out happily to see all of his students present today. "Listen, before we start today's class, I'd like to direct your attention to this sheet of paper on the wall here. Anyone who's interested in the school's play, sign your autograph up there. Amber, Nina, how are you doing with the script." He told them before turning the attention to the two girls.

Mina turned her attention to Jerome and Alfie with new excitement. They saw that the news of being able to audition for Nina and Amber's play was causing this new found excitement. They knew that she was really into that area of art along with her sketching. "Will you two try out with me? It would mean a lot to me if you did." She whispered over to them both as she kept looking over to make sure Mr. Winkler's attention was on her cousin and Amber and not on them.

The two boys shared a wary look. Acting, regardless of Alfie's joking around, was not either of their thing. She had said the magic woulds though. 'It would mean a lot to me if you did.', and Alfie could see that Jerome was desperate to get on Mina's good side and get out of the friend zone with her. Besides, how could they tell those eyes of her's no? She was counting on them to make her less nervous when she herself auditioned for a part in the play. Did that mean that they had to audition too? No, it did not. It just meant that they were being there for their friend and actually being a friend to her. "Fine, we'll audition with you, love, but we get to pick the parts. Is that a deal?" Jerome told her in a whisper.

Forgetting that they were in class, Mina clapped hands together and squealed out in excitement as she hopped down from the arm of the chair and into Jerome's lap. Alfie and Jerome's jaws dropped to the floor at her, all three blushing when they realized that they had drew everyone's attention to them. "Mina, Jerome, and Alfie, if I may return to my class." Mr. Winkler said out to the three. Jerome and Mina both blushed, clearing their throats as they straightened up, getting up and moving over to the seat beside Alfie on Mina's part.

#%$#$%#

The three teens returned to the house after classes, laughing as they were talking about their up coming prank they would be doing later. Mina was proud and secretly excited that they were involving her in them. She finally felt like they were accepting in their little duo group. They walked by the living room, oblivious to their surrounds as they did. Mina suddenly stopped, catching their attention from the corners of their eyes. She grabbed onto their sleeves and pulled them both backwards. Inside of the room was Trudy, who was standing there with her famous smile and a duster in her hand. "Trudy!" Mina shouted out happily before basically tackling her as she ran into the room.

Trudy welcomed the young girl into her arms just as excitedly as she had with the other three who had come home only a few minutes ago. She looked up to see the two boys in the doorway. She was happy to see that the two boys had taken Mina in under their wing since she got here, just like Amber and Fabian had both done with Nina. "Well, don't be shy you two. Come and say hello." She motioned them over to join the hug. They both chuckled before crossing the room and hugging the older woman, in turn squishing poor Mina in the middle of the group hug.

Once all the hugs and hellos were done, the boys went off to their room to leave Mina and Trudy to talk and to make dinner. She had offered her hand in helping, and Trudy was welcome to it. The older woman watched on as the younger american girl stared after Jerome with a look she knew very well. "So am I to believe that you and Jerome have not yet moved forward in your relationship?" Trudy said out to her as she checked the fridge for something to prepare for dinner. She had come home while they were in classes and saw the mess that had been the kitchen, and had gone straight to the market place before cleaning the hell out of the house.

Mina blushed and cleared her throat awkwardly as she shifted from one foot to the other, not knowing what to say to the older woman. Her and Jerome were just friends, as weird as it is to say that, but that was all they were going to be. Jerome didn't like her like that, they had established that the night they had found out that Trudy had been fired. "Just friends, Trudy. I'm going to take a quick shower before dinner. Do you mind?" She asked her, now suddenly wanting to be anywhere but in the kitchen with Trudy. The older woman chuckled and nodded before Mina left with a quick hug.

#%$#%$

After dinner, everyone had gotten together and surprised Trudy with a cake, thanks to Mina, Jerome, and Alfie, and a boutique of roses from the others of the house. They all cheered out her name repeatedly as they presented their presents to her. "For you, Trudy." Mara said out to the other woman cheerfully as she handed her the roses. "And, for you, Trudy. We're all so happy to have you back, Trudes." Mina said out as she held up the cake. Trudy shook her head, fighting back her tears of joy.

These kids were just too much. They did truly love her just like she loved all of them, even the Martin girls who were new. Jerome took the cake from Mina's hands and moved around them all to put it down on the table. Alfie had slipped away and came back quickly with plates and forks for everyone. While the three cut slices for everyone, Trudy's being first and the biggest of them, Fabian and the others talked to her about how they didn't give up when Victor made her leave. She warned them to not cause too much trouble. She still had faith in Victor, for some strange reason that none of them quite understood.

Once the slices of cake were all given out, everyone went back to what they were doing while they enjoyed their cake. Mara and Patricia had taken it upon themselves to finish cleaning up the dishes from dinner while Amber went to go help Alfie, who was making tea for Trudy. Nina and Fabian were sitting together enjoying feeding each other their pieces of cakes while Mike was enjoying his own slice. Mina and Jerome were sitting across from them while they picked at their own slices of cake. Mina was sitting on the arm of the chair he was sitting in.

The chatter between the teens were suddenly cut short as a small scream broke the air, causing them all look over at Mina and Jerome. He had pushed some of his cake in her face, which had caused her to scream. His laughter was cut short as she grabbed a bit of her caked and squished it onto his cheek. "Oh, now it's on." He said out as he grabbed her legs and pulled her onto his lap, attacking her with cake as he held onto her. She counter attacked by hitting him with the rest of her cake as well as she pushed against him.

Nina's eyes narrowed on the two. She was completely worn out from the on going mystery and not being any closer to figuring it out, to mention that she now had to write the script Amber had gotten them into doing, meaning just her, that needed to be done by next week. "Why don't you two just go out already. Stop annoying everyone, including Jerome, with your stupidity, Mina." She said out bitterly to her cousin, causing them all to stop what they were doing to look at her.

They were all surprised to hear such a mean thing come from her lips, especially to her own cousin. Mina straightened up, getting right off of Jerome in a matter of seconds, as she stared hurtly at her cousin. Nina was actually glaring at her. What did she have to be upset about? She had her boyfriend and two best friends, and she had their little secret going on. She should be the one being mad at her, not the other way around. "I'm gonna go clean up. I'll take my stupid self and go then. Sorry for the trouble, Trudy." Mina said sadly before rushing out of the room as she wiped her eyes.

Jerome shot a glare at Nina before going after Mina. They waited for a moment, all flinching when they heard a door slam down the hall. Jerome came back with a sour expression on his face. "Mina is no longer in the mood to celebrate tonight. Thank you so very much, Nina." He said out bitterly to the group and Nina as he plopped back down in the seat, wiping the cake angrily off of him.

%$#%#%$

Jerome and Alfie had sneaked down to Mina's room once they were sure that Victor was fast a sleep in his own room upstairs. They knocked quietly before slipping into the room to see Mina about the strike with a hair brush ready in her hand. "Whoa, don't strike! It's us. What is that . . . is that a hair brush? You were going to attack us with a hair brush? Are you bloody mad, girl?" Jerome hissed at the girl as he took the 'weapon' from her and tossed it aside.

Mina blushed as she blew a strand of hair from her face. She had heard someone coming into her room and she was half a sleep. Her hair brush was the first thing that she could find. "It was the first thing that I grabbed. Sorry, it wasn't the best weapon of choice for you, Jerome. What are you two doing creeping into my room after lights out anyways?" She whispered to them as she pulled her robe together to keep herself from getting cold, and to keep them from seeing her pjs.

Jerome rolled his eyes at her and tossed a costume to her without a word to her. She had clearly forgotten about their plan already. "Go change. We'll wait in the hall, then we're going down into the basement." He told her as he and Alfie turned to leave the room, only at the last second he caught her confused expression. "We're pranking Nina and the other three, remember? You did want to be apart of this, didn't you? If you're backing out now, please tell us before we miss our chance." He told her quietly as he motioned for Alfie to wait a moment.

She shook her head and gave them a pointed look to leave the room. There was no way she was letting this chance to prank Nina get away from her. After the way she's been acting toward her, she deserved this. "I'm not backing out. Go!" She hissed at the, pointing at the door to make herself clear. They chuckled and left the room to let her change. She hurried to put her costume over her shorts and tank top. She searched her dresser for a scrunchy before pulling her hair up into a messing bun so she could put the mask on over it. Once she was all set, she opened her door to find the boys sitting on the floor waiting for her.

She shook her head at their bored expressions before jumping to their feet when they spotted her. Jerome was in front of her first and looking down at her with that grin that made her toes curl in excitement. "Ah, a true zombie girl. Finally." He told her as he adjusted her mask for her so it was on straight. She was glad for the fact that she had a mask on, it hid her blush from him. "Come on. I heard Fabian going up to get the girls. We don't have a lot of time." He said as he took her hand and pulled her along behind him to their cellar door. He quickly picked it and led the three down stairs.

They were all a bit taken back by all of the science test tube stuff around the basement. Jerome was the only paying attention enough to hear in coming voices coming from somewhere that definably wasn't the door that they had come down through. He quickly grabbed a hold of his two friends and yanked them both inside of one of the cabinets that was big enough for all three of them. He quickly shushed them as he shut the doors.

It wasn't long before they could hear the voices of Nina, Fabian, Patricia, and Amber come into the room. Mina knew that she was only down there to scare them, but she wanted to know what they were keeping from everyone else. She couldn't hear exactly what they were talking about, but she was itching to just hear enough so she could understand why what ever this is was tearing her family apart. Jerome had taken her leaning in as eagerness to get the prank started. He motioned to Alfie that it time.

The two boys slowly eased the doors opened. They could see them inside of their masks that they group had noticed them. They nudged Mina to go, and soon the three were creeping forward like they had seen the zombies do in movies. It wasn't long before the group screamed out in fright and took off running right upstairs, not caring at the moment if Victor heard them all or not. Once they heard the door close shut, the three broke out in laughter. They raised their hands and high fived the other beside them. When Mina slapped fived Jerome, his hand caught her as they laughter suddenly died. They stood there as if in a trance for a moment before Alfie cleared his throat, bringing them back from their world. They quickly took a step away from the other and refused to meet eyes again for the rest of the night.


	28. Laughter Turns To Anger

Sorry for the long wait. I hope the next chapter will not take as long. I got a virus on my lap top and lost everything so I've had to start over from scratch, sadly this episode had been already started, so I needed to start it over again, and the muse was fighting me the whole time. I hope it doesn't stink too badly, and hopefully the next one will be a lot better.

I do not own anything in this chapter, besides Mina, everything else belongs to their rightful owners.

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The next morning, Jerome and Alfie were taking more pride in their work the night before then Mina was. They openly teased the others, saying how good a night they had. Mina had come in half way through the conversation as Jerome and Alfie were sitting down. "And it doesn't take much to figure out who zombie number three was." Nina said out bitterly as she followed her cousin with her eyes. Mina just rolled her eyes as she went to go around the table to get herself a plate of food.

Jerome grabbed her wrsit as she passed by him though, stopping her from walking by him and his seat. He lifted up the second plate he had filled, telling her that he had taken the liberty of already grabbing her one. "Snagged your favorites before Alfie ate them all. I know how you love the slightly burnt pieces of the french toasts." He told her as he stood up and pulled out the seat beside him for her to sit. She sent him a grateful smile as she sat down and let him help her push the chair back in with a quick 'thank you'. He returned to his seat, glancing up briefly to see the looks the others were giving them. He cleared his throat and lowered his head. "So, uh, what was it that you lot were doing down there anyways?" He asked out to the others.

Mina looked around the table to see their expressions as she munched away at her french toast. She could tell that Mick had no idea what they were talking about, but the others all looked guilty as could be as they tried to avoid eye contact, except for Alfie since he was on her and Jerome's side in this. "Ooo," Jerome said out when he noticed the lack of eye contact and snide remarks. "Haven't they gone quiet all of a sudden, Mina?" He said out as he shared a look with the girl beside him.

"That they have, Jerome." She said out to him with a nod of her head. "Makes one wonder why, don't you think?" She said as she shared another look with him.

"Morning, Mick."

They all turned their heads at the sound of Mara's voice. Mina studied the girl in question as she smiled happily at the jock sitting across from her. "And others." She added in, as if she were covering her happiness. "Hi, Mara." He said back quickly. Mina and the others watched on as Mick avoided eye contact with Mara as he ate his food. Mara didn't look phased though, as if she could see what they were all seeing.

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Mina was doodling away in her sketch book out by the fountain again. She was trying to draw Alfie trying to hit on some girl, which was quite a show to watch. He was waving his arms around, while he was telling some made up story of his no doubt. He was always so animated while he talked, which she just loved about him. "Drawing Alfie will surely get you a gallery all on your own, love." She looked up to see Jerome sitting down beside her. "People will come from all over the world just to ask you 'what the bloody hell is that boy doing?'." He said to her with a chuckle.

She giggled softly as she continued to darken some of the lines. She shook her head when he nudged her shoulder. "You're going to make me mess up." She told him when he nudged her again. He chuckled, knowing that she wasn't really mad at him since she was laughing with him. He glanced up at Alfie to see him looking back at him for a quick second. He gave his friend a nod, it was show time. He caught her off guard when he suddenly snatched the sketch book from her hands. "Jerome!" She protested as she reached over to take it back, but he held it away from her.

She was basically on top of him trying to take it back. Now, normally he would have took advantage of this situation, but he had a goal set in all of this. He shot one last look to Alfie, silently telling him with a narrowed look that he owed him majorly. Without second guessing this plan and telling himself out of it, he dropped her sketch book a few feet from them before he grabbed Mina around the waist and threw them both back into the fountain. She let out a scream of surprise as she was hit with cold water. "Jerome!" She gasped out as she lifted her head out of the water. "I'm going to kill you!" She screamed out as she lunged at him.

His laughter was cut off as she tackled him under the water. The two began splashing each other as they circled around the other. She wasn't mad at him, quite the opposite. She was actually enjoying herself as she moved out of his reach. Jerome jumped forward suddenly and caught her around the waist and lifting her up, causing her to scream out in laughter as he swung them around. "Mina!" They both stopped where they were, his arm still locked around her, and looked up to see Nina coming toward them with Amber and Patricia flanking her sides.

Jeremy slowly put Mina down and helped her out of the fountain. He climbed out first and turned to help her up. He lifted her tiny frame up and carried her right up and out of the water. She laughed out as he dipped her as if they dancing before setting her up right on her feet. They were both dripping wet from head to toe, though neither of them very much cared. The three girls approached them, shocked at what they had just seen them doing in the fountain. "God, what was that just now? Are you completely insane? You could get sick doing that!" Nina said as she quickly pulled off her jacket and wrapped it around her cousin's shoulders.

Amber was going on and on about how ruined Mina's clothes and hair were going to be, and that it would be a miracle if she managed to save it in time. Patricia went over and picked up her sketch book. At least Jerome managed to not get that wet. She shot him a sharp look, knowing that this was his fault. He returned the look she had given him with an innocent shrug of his shoulders. "Come on, you looney American. Lets get you inside before Amber has a heart attack, yeah?" Patricia said as she pushed them along to head off back to the house. Mina looked back one last time, Jerome giving her a small wave until she was out of sight.

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After hours of taking a shower, drying, recurling, and finding a new outfit to wear, Amber was finally done with Mina. Patricia and Nina took off while she was in her shower without a word of where to her, no surprise there, and she knew Amber had only stayed to keep her occupied. She let it go though, not even bothering to make a fight about now. She was tired of being lied to, but it was old news now and she was over it. It only became obvious that she was stalling, when Amber refused to let her leave the room. They ended up playing some quizzes in her magazines.

She had finally gotten away from Amber when she offered to go get snacks down stairs in the kitchen for them. Amber offered to come, but she got rid of her by making a joke about it seeming as if she were guarding her and making sure she stayed in the house or something, which they both knew she was. She was in the kitchen when she spotted Alfie and Jerome sulking by. Curiosity getting the best of her, she followed after them. She noticed that Jerome had gone in his room, and Alfie had gone to the bathroom.

She decided to go check on Jerome for obvious reasons. She peeked her head inside of the room, only to find Jerome sitting on his bed rubbing his eyes. "Jerome?" She asked out to him. He immediately jumped, rubbing his eyes again as she shot up to his feet and turned his back to her. "What's wrong? The last time I saw you, you were soaking wet and smiling like a crazy man." She said as she slipped into the room and closed the door behind her.

Jerome felt so humiliated right now, so ashamed of himself. How could their teacher do that to them? Granted, they brought it upon themselves, but he didn't need to make them wear the stupid sumo suits. Now, did he? He was now official glad hat he and Alfie had decided to leave her out of today's scam. He would rather him in the bloody suit then her. That didn't mean he wanted her to see him getting teary eyes though. He wanted her to leave. How did he made her leave though?

He said nothing as he suddenly turned on his heels and marched right up to her. He didn't give himself, or her, time to think as he closed the space between them and kissed her. She squeaked out in surprise as he crashed his lips onto hers. She was in shock for a long moment, giving him momentary hope that she would kiss him back, before pushing him away from her. Before he got a moment to sink in the fact that she had pushed him away, her hand hit his cheek, whipping his face to the side. "What the hell, Jerome?" She shouted as she spun and stormed out of the room, getting to the door just as Alfie was opening it.

He opened his mouth to say hello to her, but she just went right past him, not even slowing down to give him a smile. "What's gotten into her?" He said out as he watched her storm all the way down the hall to her room and slam the door behind her. "Women. Right, mate?" He said as he closed the door behind him. He looked at Jerome to see him rubbing his jaw. He could almost see the hand print on his cheek. "Another slap of love, I presume? What did you do to deserve it this time?" He asked him as he went over to his own bed. Jerome just ignored him as he left the room to go take a shower. At least he finally kissed her.


End file.
